Gryffin
by Maur the Grey
Summary: What happens when a failed experiment crash-lands on the Happy Tree World? I have a fire extinguisher, but I still don't need your flames.
1. Chapter 1

**Well, here it is! The story I promised Foore-Warrior and Brandy is finally here...after THREE FREAKING YEARS!!! That's honestly hard to believe, isn't it? Well, here I introduce Gryffin, and boy, has she changed from the first time I typed up a bio for her...**

**Anyhoo, this is going to be a long one. And I might as well warn you all that there's going to be language and (due to request) some lemon. I promise I'll warn you before it comes up.**

**Have fun!**

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The planet of Mobus was in turmoil. For years, a war had been raging between the monarchy of King Acorn and the evil mastermind, Dr. Ivo Robotnik.

Where King Acorn had fearless followers to try and defeat Dr. Ivo, the aspiring dictator had hordes of robots that grew in numbers every day. Even the reinforcements sent to King Acorn from other planets hadn't done anything to help, and a few years ago, a super-powered squirrel from a recently destroyed planet had given his DNA to aid Dr. Robotnik in making an Ultimate Life-Form. Dr. Ivo boasted of his achievement and threatened to release his creation on the planet, but something went wrong, and the creature was locked away and never spoken of again.

Dr. Ivo had recently attacked the city of Knothole, which was a safe haven for people who were loyal to the throne, and King Acorn retaliated by sending three of his best agents to destroy the laboratory where the alleged Life-Form had been created a mere twenty years ago, a short time on Mobus. The attack was a success, and soon the three were searching the laboratory for any signs of remaining life. One of them, named Tails, was sifting curiously through some ashes when he found a small folder.

"Hey guys, look at this!" he exclaimed, holding it up. Sonic and Rotor, the other two, looked up from what they were doing, and Rotor nimbly plucked the folder from Tails's hands.

"I say, what is this?" he asked, opening it up and flipping though the pages. Sonic and Tails both peered over his shoulder as he read aloud. "The Life-Form '666-B' has displayed several signs that it attracts supernatural activity, most likely due to the Chaos Emeralds that have been fused into its body. 666 must be terminated immediatly and dissected to determine the cause of this serious flaw." Tails was staring at the paper, his jaw hanging open.

"But that means the Ultimate Life-Form _was_created...but I thought it had already been terminated! Is it still around here somewhere?"

"I don't know..." Rotor unfolded a slip of paper that was tucked away in the folder behind the others. "This looks like a DNA code. If we take this file back to Knothole, we can probably trace the creature and destroy it, if it's still around."

"Sounds like a plan," Sonic said, looking around the burnt remains of the laboratory in disgust. "I don't want another one of those _things_running around here. Shadow was bad enough, remember?"

"Yeah. I'm just thankful that Robo-Butt doesn't have _him_as help..."

"Guys," Rotor said, butting into their conversation. "We need to get back, before princess Sally has a hissy-fit and sics Antoine on us all. Come on..." They all got back in the hover craft that had taken them there and sped away.

About ten miles away, the creature in question was fleeing as if the hounds of Hell were right behind her. She would have been ashamed of the fact that she was completely naked, but she had never been allowed the luxury of clothing, so she ignored it. Her white fur was singed down to the skin, and her pointed ears were cut and bleeding. On her back, right between a pair of large, feathery wings was the serial code 666-B.

She stopped running, feeling sick and dizzy. Her stomach lurched and she threw up, spilling a stomachfull of sour juices. She wiped her mouth with a shaking hand.

"This is rediculous..." she groaned, then looked down at her body, her lips curling back in disgust. Such crude men, who ran her creator's lab, to force her to go naked! She remembered the sickening way they had all looked at her, then forced it from her mind. None of that was important now. She took a deep breath, then suddenly threw back her head and laughed, her wings beating in joy.

Most people would have found it strange, a little unclothed female cat standing in the middle of a wasteland, laughing like a madman, unless they knew what it was like to be locked up all the time to one day find themselves suddenly free. The cat was feeling intoxicated with the sudden weight of freedom, and the first thing she did was set about fashioning some decent clothing out of her magic.

After a while, she sat back and looked at her handiwork. She now had a plain white robe with black trim and a wide black sash, which she quickly donned, making sure the back was low cut enough to accomodate her large wings. As she tied her silken sash tightly around her waist, she smiled. Her creator would surely have become quite angry by now, to see her dressing up like anyone else! The nerve of her!

She even went so far as to make two holes appear in each ear, and then created two sets of wide blue hoop earrings for her to wear. She felt proud and grand as she fastened them on, then turned her pale grey eyes to the sky. She knew it would be hopeless to stay on Mobus after what all had happened, but did she really want to know what was out there? After all, hostilities often ran so deep between other races that many had learned to kill without guilt, and she didn't know whether she truly was 'Ultimate' or not. If so, she was invincible. If not...well...

She pondered only for a moment, then crouched and spread her wings as wide as they would go. A few white feathers fell to the ground as she left the troubled planet behind, hoping never to return.

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**What do you think, eh? Still interested? Never fret, I haven't spent three years(!) working on this for nothing. But it **_**will **_**be long. There's just no way around that.**

**Cheers!**


	2. Chapter 2

**To those who have just now picked up the story, welcome! To those who have been following thus far, welcome back!**

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Splendid the Squirrel was sitting under a tree, reading one of his favorite books. He was thankful to get a moment of peace after being called about by everyone all day, not that it had made much of a difference. Everyone had been brutally killed in some way or another today, and he knew most of them blamed him.

"Aw, stop feeling sorry for yourself..." he said aloud, feeling a lump of shame well in his throat. He sighed and lowered his reading glasses, looking at the land around him. The tree he was sitting under was already losing its leaves, although the leaves were still a healthy purple. The sun was setting, casting shadows over the land.

Splendid smiled, wishing things stayed this peaceful all the time, when a black shadow was thrown over him, and he found himself staring at a face he thought he would never see. The little winged cat.

She stared back, hovering in midair for a moment, then shot off into the distance. Splendid jumped up and threw his glasses and book to the side before taking off after the her, a mixed feeling of panic and fury welling inside him. He thought he recognized the cat, but if she was who she looked like, then she wasn't even suposed to be alive anymore.

_Wait a freaking minute!_ he thought. _This means Dr. Ivo lied to me!_

The cat had gone to the nearest planet to Mobus to find shelter. She finally arrived in a place full of more colors than she had seen in her whole life, and they almost hurt her eyes, so accustomed she was to black and white.

At first glance, it appeared to be a wonderful place, but she soon saw people dead and dying everywhere, and some parts of the land reeked of blood and gore. A few times, she thought she saw a dead body begin to pull itself back together, but she came to the conclusion that her mind was playing tricks on her.

She flew around, trying to get her bearings and find a nice wooded area to spend the night, and happened to run across Splendid, who chased her as if she were something he must destroy, and fast. She swerved and dodged, trying to lose him, but he stayed on her trail with a perseverence that annoyed her greatly.

"Hey, you, STOP!" he shouted after her, straining to catch up. He was the fastest flyer on the Happy Tree Planet, but this girl was just as fast as he was, he now realized. Well, why shouldn't she be? If she was who he thought, then she was made from his own DNA, after all.

"Make me!" the cat screetched back, her voice made sharp with panic and anger. "Just you make me stop! I've done nothing, _nothing _to you, yet you...you...just leave me alone!"

"Well, stop and I will too, you idiot!" Splendid shot back. She spat at him, and his temper flared wildly. He gritted his teeth and his eyes began to glow red hot. Two well-aimed lasers shot from them, neatly slicing one of her wings off and scouring the skin.

She screamed with raging pain and plummeted to the earth and as she spiraled down like a wounded bird, Splendid could see red letters etched into the skin on her back. 666-B. With a sickening feeling, he realized he had just killed Dr. Ivo's Ultimate Life-Form and his own daughter.

The cat hit the ground, still screaming, her eyes streaming with pain. Her body shattered as if she was made of glass the second she hit the ground, her organs and blood spreading out over the earth. She screamed, gurgled, and grew limp. Splendid swooped down over her, kneeled on the ground next to her, and began to panic. She was his own flesh-and-blood, after all, and he couldn't just treat her with the same cool indifference that he treated everyone else with.

"No, don't die!" he exclaimed, shaking her slightly. She struggled to make her eyes stay open and focused on his blurrily. "Damn you, say something so I know you're not addled."

"Don't touch me..." she groaned quietly. "...Don't even come near me..." Splendid felt hurt, then began to hope again when he spied Flippy and Mime running towards them.

"What happened?" Flippy asked. "Mime and I heard screams..."

"It's her," Splendid said, gently lifting the cat slightly. She squeezed her eyes shut, gasping in pain.

"Don't...stop..." she whispered and Splendid stroked one of her huge ears.

"My God, I'm sorry..." he said, wondering if she could guess why. "If you'll stay alive, I'll make it up to you, I promise..."

"What the Hell is going on here?!" Flippy asked. Mime stared at the cat, and she returned his gaze. Their eyes locked, her grey ones staring seriously into his dark blue ones, and Mime felt himself grow dizzy. He sat down by her head and took one of her hands, patting it. Flippy glanced at him, then his eyes snapped back to Splendid and flashed bright green. "Seriously, Splendid, who is she?"

"She's...a very close friend. From another planet, actually. And she's badly hurt..." Suddenly Splendid gagged and turned to the side, feeling like he was going to vomit. The smell of her green-tinted blood was making him feel ill. "Oh God...Flippy, you hold her. I feel like I'm going to be sick..."

Flippy knelt next to the cat, and she tore her gaze away from Mime and stared at him through wide, pain-filled eyes. Flippy had the feeling that all this attention was making her feel stifled and confused.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked Splendid, narrowing his eyes. At the same time, Evil Flippy was clamoring to be let loose, and Flippy was hard pressed to ignore him.

_Come on, Goody-Goody..._Evil Flippy whined. _...Let me have a little fun. Just one slice of the knife and the bitch is out of her misery..._

_No! _Flippy snapped back. Evil Flippy pouted, then grinned.

_Please?_

_No!_

_You're no fun anymore. What does she mean to you anyways, huh? Why should you care? _Flippy rolled his eyes, ignoring him. The cat had kept silent until now, but she had begun to gasp with something that sounded like fear, and her eyes were fixed on something on the ground that only she could see.

"P-please..." she whispered. "...Don't let it..."

"Don't let what? What are you talking about?" Flippy had begun to grow slightly panicked. She was crushed and bleeding, but she was still alive. _What the Hell is with this girl?!_ he wondered. Her eyes had grown wide and as he stared at her, they grew bright blue.

As she lay there, half-dead but refusing to give up, she had noticed a dancing shadow on the ground next to her. It jumped and wiggled, occasionally letting out a dark giggle. She knew what it was, but she was severely baffled as to why it was there.

_Hello! _it said, snuffling her up and down. She could hear Splendid saying something and Flippy arguing back, but she focused on the shadow. _You're a new sort, aren't you? _

_Go away. I'm not interested, _the cat said back through a haze of pain. _I've dealt with your type before. Demons. I can't stand the whole lot of you._

_Aww, that's not nice._ The demon had a low, husky, feminine voice that would be the envy of any seductress. _I can suit your purpose, and you can suit mine. I need a body like yours. _

_I'm on the verge of death. I don't think I'll do you any good._

_Oh, death..._the demon whispered. ..._I wouldn't worry if I were you. Death means nothing. Now..._ The demon wound itself around her, entering her body through her nose and mouth. Flippy noticed her gasping and choking and shook the cat slightly.

"Hey, girl! Keep breathing, okay?" he asked, more than slightly panicked now. Mime began to take deep breaths, gesturing for her to do the same. She tired and began to cough, and tiny flecks of blood landed on Mime's clean sweater. He brushed them away, then smiled kindly, and she tried to smile back through the crushing pain.

Splendid had flown off, searching for help. He had offered to take her with him, but Flippy had reminded him that it was his fault she was dying in the first place, and he had dejectedly flown off without a fight. Now all they could do was wait anxiously.

After a few minutes had passed, the cat's breathing had slowed and her eyelids closed, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes.

"I...don't want to die..." she whispered. Mime looked into her face, and finally understood that this was all new to her. "I'm afraid...I don't want to die..."

"Don't be afraid," Flippy calmly said. "You'll be just fine..." He realized that there was only one thing to do, but it was a major gamble. If he was right, she would be put out of her misery and healed, but if he was wrong... He shook his head, trying not to think of it. If he was wrong, she would end up like Pop's wife. Dead for good and buried in the local graveyard.

Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he pulled his Bowie knife from his jacket and slowly lifted it to her throat. Mime's eyes widened in shock and he slapped Flippy's hand away, shaking his head furiously.

"Stop it!" Flippy snapped at him, but quietly enough to where she couldn't hear him. "She needs to be...put out of her misery." He winced when he realized that he had used Evil Flippy's exact words. Mime bit his lip and looked down. He gently put his arms around her neck, slowly pulling her head so she would turn and look at him. As the cat stared into his dark blue eyes, he felt a warm, sad feeling well up in his chest, and he gently caressed her face with one of his hands. She almost smiled.

"If I survive..." she whispered. "...Will you be my friend?" Mime smiled and nodded, feeling almost every emotion possible hit him with the force of a freight train. Flippy raised the knife and plunged it deep into her chest, stabbing through her heart. She shuddered, gasped and died. Mime began to cry, tears running down his face, and he cradled the cat's limp body as Flippy looked on in pity.

What if he was wrong?

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**He was wrong. The End. **

**Just kidding, guys! (^_^) Quit looking so blue, would you? You're going to make me cry. The next chapter will probably (...no promises...) be around before the end of this week, so just hang in there!**

**Cheers!**


	3. Chapter 3

_**THAT**_** took ****a bit longer than expected. Sorry, guys... I know you've all just been hanging on by your fingernails with nothing else to do (sarcasm. Really, really heavy sarcasm. It's just what I do.) all day, what with the World Wide Web being so boring and all.**

**To be honest, I'm slightly bummed that I've gotten no reviews. At all. Is anyone even reading this by now?! Are you all peacefully ignoring me like a annoying little kid?!**

**I feel like I'm only typing for that one special person who has nothing else to do. *sighs and then sings* "Nobody likes me, everybody hates me; I guess I'll go and eat worms..."**

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The cat's senses awoke before she did, and she began to get the sense of several familiar things. She heard the almost soothing beeps and whirrs of advanced technology; the air around her had a cold, clinical, chemical smell that reminded her of the holding chamber she had been kept in for years. She even sensed that if she didn't wake up soon, Shadow would Chaos Control into the room and jump under the covers with her, tickling her until she got up. Then she realized that she wasn't sleeping on the floor of her cage.

Her eyes flew open, and the first thing she saw were crisp white sheets tucked around her. With a feeling of panic, she ripped them off of her and jumped from the bed, flinching slightly as she felt the cold floor beneath her feet. A sudden stinging in her right hand made her look down; in her panic, she had ripped an IV needle right out of her skin. As dark green drops fell to the linoleum floor, an alarm went off, and someone sitting in a chair by the door jerked awake.

"Huh? Wazzat?" he mumbled sleepily, and then his eyes snapped open. "What the-?!" The cat backed away quickly, knocking over a tray of medical equipment that fell to the floor with a startling clatter. She recognized Splendid, who had shot to his feet and was slowly advancing on her. Without thinking, she tried to spread her wings to flee, and realized that they were pinned down by the hospital gown she was wearing.

Splendid lunged and grabbed her, pinning her down with his super-human strength. She squirmed and spat, raking her claws across his face, but no sooner had she stratched him deeply that new skin grew back over the marks she made.

"You might as well give up, 666," he said, shutting his eyes and turning his head so that her claws wouldn't gouge his eyes out. She only fought harder as hospital staff swarmed into the room.

"NO! LET ME GO, _NOW!_" the cat screamed. In the struggle, the IV wound on her hand scraped against the metal railing of the bed and the tiny puncture ripped wide open, making her smear blood all over the clean white sheets as her skin peeled back. Splendid held his breath to avoid the smell of her Kryptonut-infused blood, waiting for her to grow weak from blood loss. It took a full ten minutes of sweating and struggling, as she writhed to get away, for her to grow weak enough to let him pick her up. It was fortunate that one of the nurses had the presence of mind to slip a mask over Splendid's nose and mouth, permitting him to breathe again.

At last, the cat became almost docile and curled up in a ball in Splendid's arms, shaking from over-exertion. Splendid held her while nurses changed the sheets on the bed, wiped the blood off of the floor and stuck a new IV into her left hand. The whole time he didn't say a word, knowing that anything he said would probably anger her further. She seemed so sweet, but the looks she was giving him were filled with pure hatred as she snuggled against him. Splendid bit back the tempting urge to hit her back, but at the same time he couldn't help but feel almost miserable. She was his daughter, for God's sake! Didn't she love him way deep down?

When there were clean sheets on the bed, he settled her back down and a nurse tucked her in as if she were a child, not a half-mad alien that had tried to kill a superhero and assorted medical staff. When Splendid scooted his chair closer to the bed, she wriggled away from him, up against the wall, as if his presence was hurting her. Splendid could see that she was still afraid of him.

"Well then...you put up a fight there, didn't you?" he asked lightly, doing his best to hide his hurt feelings. She didn't reply, but glared at him steadily with a wicked snarl on her face. "Yeah...you've got fighting strength in you, for sure." Just like her old man. Too bad she was too busy making a face like a rabid dog to talk to him. "Aren't you going to say something? Anything?"

"Where am I?" she finally asked, forcing as much hatred she could into every word. Splendid resisted the urge to get up, find a book about space and geography, come back, and shove it down her throat.

"Oy..." he said wearily. This was shaping up to be a looong day. "You are on the Happy Tree World, also known in some religions as the Summerland. Souls come here to be reincarnated, but we live here, so we can live forever. Anything else?"

"Right..." the cat replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm as she ignored his very sarcastic question. "...I guess you're the almighty Happy Tree King, aren't you?" Splendid rubbed his temple, where a nasty headache was forming.

"There's no need to be rude, 666," he said in a tired tone. "I'm being perfectly serious." He glanced out the window as if the trees outside could give him a clue as to what to say. "You know, I'm slightly curious as to why you decided to leave Mobus. I'm sure you know it isn't safe here." Why here? Why now? Why the fuck did you decide to come and bother me?!

"As if I'd tell _you_ anything! You freaking _killed_ me!" the cat screeched. Splendid rolled his eyes.

"The whole 'killing' thing is besides the point..." he said. "...And there isn't much about you that I don't know, 666, even without you telling me. After all, Dr. Ivo _was_ an...er..._acquaintance_ of mine. I'm just wondering how you ended up here, that's all." The cat snorted with disgust. If she hadn't been feeling so weak, she would have leapt up and torn him to shreds for being so uncouth, the nosy bastard.

"If you really have to know, your little 'friend' abandoned me like any other failed experiment when King Acorn sent his troupe of spies. That's why I'm here, though I'm sure I've leapt right out of the frying pan and into the fire. I just couldn't stay on Mobus now that Dr. Ivo was in hiding. They were going to terminate me." She looked down at the IV in her left arm. "What happened to me, anyways? I mean, did I pass out, or...?"

"You died," Splendid replied simply, as if it was nothing at all. "And it wasn't my fault. _I_ merely made you crash, but Flippy's the one who slit your throat as soon as I went off." He felt a wave of irritation creep over him, wondering what would have happened if Flippy had turned out to be wrong. "You know, you're really, _really_ lucky," Splendid said after a pause. "Had Flippy misjudged, you'd be long gone and buried." The cat shrugged.

"Why? I'd come back, right? I thought that's how things work here."

"Sometimes it doesn't happen like that. Pop's wife, for example, died and never came back, no matter how long he waited," Splendid replied. "I'm relieved that the same didn't happen to you..." I'm lying through my teeth... I think. Hmm...

"Why? What the fuck do you care?" the cat snapped, suddenly angry again. It was almost as if she knew that half of him wished she were still dead. Splendid flinched at the harsh tone of her voice.

"Well, it's not like I'm the only one. Mime was worried too, you know." Worried was an understatement. Mime had been squeezing her dead body to his chest like she was a new kind of stuffed animal and then refused to let her go, riding in the back of the ambulance with her and clinging to her until hospital orderlies had pulled her away. Then he had visited every day, but today, Splendid had made him go home early. He didn't want him around as she was waking up, just in case things turned nasty.

"Who's Mime?" the cat asked, moving slightly closer to Splendid. Her curiosity was getting the better of her.

"Mime is that deer that kept holding your hand." Splendid replied. Then he carried you. _Then_ he wouldn't freaking let go of you. I think you might remember him. "I get the feeling he really wants to meet you, but he never talks, so I can't be sure. I could introduce you sometime, but now..." He stood up and leaned over her, sliding his hand under her. "...May I?"

"May you _what_?" the cat asked, her temper flaring at his touch, but he merely helped her sit up. He pulled the back of her hospital gown down and carefully looked at the serial code tattooed on her back.

"666-B..." he said quietly. "...It really _is_ you. I honestly never thought we would meet." He straightened up. "Dr. Ivo told me you were a failed experiment, but you seem fine to me." He sighed, wondering what he was going to do. He couldn't just get rid of his own daughter. Turning around, he pressed the call button on the wall and waited patiently for a nurse to come. They sat together for a long time, neither of them saying anything.

"You know, I need a name for you," Splendid muttered, anxious to break their awkward silence. "Just calling you by a serial number won't do."

"What's wrong with my number?" the cat asked icily, her ears flattening back in irritation. Splendid glared at her as if he wanted to prove that his attitude was just as big as hers.

"Because you're a person, not a robot. Now..." He looked her up and down thoughtfully. "I remember Dr. Ivo telling me once that Shadow had named you. I can't remember what it was, but it pissed Ivo off pretty bad..." The cat thought long and hard; she hadn't seen Shadow for several years.

"He called me Gryffin," she said slowly, a tiny smile tugging the corners of her mouth.

"Gryffin, huh? It seems like a great name for you," Splendid said, grinning for the first time that day. It was true that, if she had a beak, she would look very much like a griffin.

"Then, I guess...I guess that's my name now," the cat said. It felt strange to have a name after being known only as her serial number for so long, and she decided that the feeling was going to take some getting used to.

The nurse, a pretty pink chipmunk, finally arrived, and Splendid had her check Gryffin over to ensure that she was ready to leave. When Gryffin had been given a clean bill of health, the chipmunk, whose name was Giggles, handed a letter to Splendid with a smile.

"This is from Petunia," she said in a high, sweet voice. "She told me to give this to you if I saw you." Splendid smiled back and a blush went across his face.

"Thanks, Giggles. Gryffin, here." Splendid gave her back her robe. It had been washed for her, and she gratefully slid it on and tied the sash snugly around her waist. She and Splendid left together, and when they reached the door of the hospital, he turned to her with an impish grin on his face.

"You know, you fly pretty fast..." he said slowly. "...Why don't we see just how fast you really are?"

"Huh?" Gryffin asked, but she had spoken to air; Splendid had already taken off. Gryffin whooped and leapt up, spreading her wings and taking off after him. He looked back and laughed, but his grin fell when he saw her quickly catching up. He tried to lose her, but it was no use; she had clearly inherited his flying prowess, just as he had hoped. Soon they were side by side, playfully taunting each other.

"You silly thing, hasn't anyone told you that cats can't fly?"

"What's your excuse, then? You're a squirrel!" Splendid didn't reply to that, but he gave a mischievous grin and came to a full halt. Gryffin tried to stop too, but she was going too fast to come to a standstill and managed to become ensnared in the treetops of the forest. Splendid hovered over to her, laughing.

"Maybe you should pay attention more," he said, wiping his streaming eyes. Gryffin looked up from where she was, tangled firmly in a tree's branches.

"I was just trying to make you laugh. That was _intentional_." She untangled herself and flew up next to him, and they started their race again, laughing the tension away.

_Well_, Splendid thought. _That __didn__'t __take __too __long__._

.......................................................................................................................

As it was growing dark, they both tired and Splendid began to guide her to his house.

"You'll be living with me, of course," he said in a matter-of-fact kind of way.

"Yes, of course I...wait...what?!" You can't be serious. I just _know_ you're shitting around with me.

"I'm serious. It's not like there's anywhere else for you to go, and besides, I could use the company." He smiled kindly at Gryffin, and she smiled back, feeling slightly bewildered. Had Dr. Ivo been in Splendid's place, Gryffin knew he would have left her at the hospital or in the woods and gone home. She wasn't used to this kind of kindness, and almost didn't know what to do. What did people say when given a gift? She couldn't remember.

"Thank you..." she said haltingly, the words unfamiliar on her tongue. "...For being so nice to me. I can see you're not like my creator at all." Splendid grinned a wry, affectionate smile.

"Well, that's a relief!" he said, laughing. "I never really liked Ivo. He was cold and mean and...well...he...mentioned you once or twice." He didn't say that Ivo only talked about her when he was angry, and that he had called her, among other things, a retard and a badly behaved animal. He already had a feeling that she had heard him say that before.

They arrived at Splendid's house, a huge, acorn-shaped abode resting on top of a tree trunk so big that Gryffin marveled at the sheer size of it. They flew in a huge window on one side and landed in a good-sized study that was full to bursting with books. Gryffin turned on the spot, gazing about her with wide eyes. She had never seen so many books in her entire life.

"This is where I live," Splendid said, smiling at her obvious wonder. "Well, this is just the study. My house is a complete mess, so you might want to be careful that you don't trip over anything."

"Okay..." Gryffin said absent-mindedly, a bewildered smile on her face. Her mind was reeling with the thoughts of what those books could contain. Splendid looked at her and felt a feeling of affection surge up in his chest. Suddenly he wanted to gather Gryffin in his lap and hold her. He wanted to tell her how horrible the past few years had been, thinking that the little creature he had helped create was either dying or dead, and that he hadn't even seen her. Oh, damn...He hoped he wouldn't start crying.

A siren split through the air, roughly jerking the two Happy Tree Friends away from their very different thoughts. Gryffin froze where she was, but Splendid had gone through this too many times to count.

"Damn it!" he snapped, walking over to the window.

"What's going on?" Gryffin asked, looking alarmed. The siren had begun to hurt her sensitive ears, and she slapped her hands over them in agony.

"It's Lifty and Shifty. I'm sure you'll meet them sooner or later, but you might as well know that they're a couple of thieving little toerags. They're rude, they're annoying and---THAT DAMN ALARM! WHY WON'T THEY JUST SHUT IT OFF!?!" Gryffin couldn't help but smile at his outburst; it was true that the alarm had grown steadily louder until it seemed like she had a police car jammed tightly in both ears.

"What are you going to do about them?" she asked, glad when the alarm faded and died away. He glanced at the window, and they both noticed that the sky outside had grown dark.

"I'll kick both their asses, that's what," he said growlingly, clenching his fists. "I'll be back, okay? Just make yourself comfortable." He took off, and Gryffin waved after him.

She wandered through the house for a little over an hour, and was amazed to find that people did not sleep in cages, like she did. Almost every room had a bed. She remembered, feeling like an ignorant child, that she thought beds were only for the sick. Upon exploring the kitchen, she found that Splendid didn't eat laboratory pellets in a bowl on the floor. Apparently, he ate at a table, using utensils and eating foods that seemed beyond strange to her. She wanted to taste them, but decided to wait.

All this extravagance, no matter how unkempt and messy, was making her feel slightly odd. Suddenly she felt lower than a dog and shame at her own ignorance forced tears out of her eyes. She didn't belong in a nice, if somewhat messy, house! She belonged in a cage, drinking from a bottle attached to the side that often was empty, and eating from a bowl on the floor. She wondered if Splendid considered her to be dirty, and therefore so would be anything she touched. Thinking thus, she hastily put a picture of Splendid and a very pretty skunk back on a shelf and glanced at the clock.

Splendid had been gone for nearly two hours. Gryffin felt a cold feeling develop in the pit of her stomach as she wondered what could be keeping him. She made her way to the window and flew out, listening hard for anything that sounded remotely similar to Splendid's voice.

She flew over the forest, searching, and soon had made her way into town. There, on the outskirts, was a small museum and in front of that museum was Splendid, bent double on the grass. Gryffin could see a strange green light coming from a box that was held by one of two figures that were standing in front of him. A horrible retching and splattering sound met her ears, and the two began to laugh.

Gryffin swooped down and landed in front of Splendid, shielding him from view with her wings.

"I told you to stay at home," Splendid weakly protested before throwing up again. Gryffin ignored him and turned her attention to the twins. They could only be Lifty and Shifty, she realized. They were completely identical, right down to the smirks on their faces and the rings on their raccoon tails. One of them, whom she assumed was Shifty, was wearing a fedora.

"Hey, man, look at the little bitch!" Lifty said. "She's so small!" He crouched slightly so he could be on her eye level, then began to point and laugh.

"Yeah, man, and what's up with the wings? You a chicken, you little pussy?"

How original. The word pussy used in reference to an actual cat. Yes sir, Shifty's one bright son of a bitch.

"Go on and kick her ass, Lifty," the son of a bitch ordered, shifting the gem to one hand and pointing at her with the other. Gryffin smiled a grim, evil smile. Something inside of her rose up in anger like an irritated snake, and as her light grey eyes turned blue, she threw her head back and laughed, letting the demon have full reign.

The first thing the demon did was let loose a blast of magic and foul language, spitting curses and promises of pain at the two of them. Lifty and Shifty both froze, a look of horrible familiarity on their faces. They knew that sound, but they couldn't believe it wasn't coming from a demented bear with green eyes.

"Uh...Shifty?" Lifty said nervously. Shifty didn't answer at first, but stared at Gryffin, too terrified to move.

"She...she sounds just like..." he began to say, but Gryffin launched herself at his throat. Lifty felt feeling come back to his frozen limbs and ran, not daring to look back through the dreadful screams that met his ears.

Gryffin smiled wickedly as she straddled Shifty's chest, raking her claws across his face. He yowled in pain, trying to writhe away before she scratched his eyes out, but she held him still.

"Go on then, scream," she said in a deathly calm voice, putting her lips up to his ear. "Too bad that your coward of a brother has run away. We could ask him to join in." She almost carressingly touched his face, then dug her claws into his pupils and yanked up with all her strength. Shifty yowled again, blood pouring out of his empty eye sockets.

Splendid looked on, disgusted but tranxfixed as Gryffin plunged her hand into Shifty's stomach and grabbed a fistful of his intestines. She pulled them out, then looped one around his neck and slowly strangled him. Another grim smile lit her face as he gasped for breath, trying to plead with her through the pain.

"Gryffin...WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Splendid yelped. She turned to face him and hissed, the pupils of her bright blue eyes contracting until they were slits.

"Stay out of this, squirrel!" she shot at him. "He doesn't deserve to live!" She suddenly whipped back around and buried her teeth in Shifty's chest, ripping his heart out. He shuddered and died, his head lolling to the side and his jaw slack. Splendid tried to get up, but the light from the gem hit him again and he fell back on the ground, vomiting and bringing up nothing but bile.

Gryffin stood up, kicking dust onto Shifty's unmoving face. She smiled coldly and began to laugh; a high, mirthless laugh that made Splendid feel cold down to the marrow of his bones. Suddenly she gasped and put her hand to her forehead, sinking to the ground.

"G-Gryffin..." Splendid managed to choke out before he retched again. Her eyelids fluttered and opened, and she seemed to shake herself.

"What the-?" she asked before catching sight of Shifty's mangled body and tasting the blood on her lips. "W-what the _fuck_ just happened?!"

"Forget that...help me..." Splendid gasped. Gryffin found the gem and placed it back in its box. She then set it on the ground and walked over to Splendid, holding the hem of her robe up so that it wouldn't trail through the puddles of blood and sick.

"Are you alright, love?" she asked kindly, kneeling by Splendid's side. "Can you still fly?" He spat, trying to get the taste of puke out of his mouth, and wiped his lips with a shaking hand.

"I c-can't even get up..." he said tremblingly. Gryffin thought for a moment.

"Would you like me to carry you?" Splendid dubiously looked up at her, a wry grin lighting his face.

"Can you even pick me up?" he asked. Gryffin shrugged, then gently scooped him up and managed to cradle him securely, despite the fact that he was twice her size.

"Like this?" she asked innocently. Splendid managed to laugh.

"Fine then, but can you fly while carrying me? That's the _real _question." Gryffin strained her wings and managed to lift them both, and Splendid grinned wider. "'Atta girl..." he mumbled sleepily. It was extremely late, and he hadn't slept in days. He decided that it wouldn't hurt to close his eyes for just a few minutes...

______________________________________________________

*******pauses ****in ****eating ****worms* ****I****'m ****so ****depressed ****that ****I ****could ****just ****curl ****up ****in to ****a ****ball ****of ****Emo****. *****makes ****disgusted ****face* ****And ****I ****don****'t ****even **_**like **_**worms****!**

**Poor ****Splendid****...****throwing ****up ****like ****Anna ****Nichole ****Smith ****did ****before ****she ****died****...****it ****makes ****me ****feel ****kinda ****bad ****for ****him****, ****you ****know****? ****Being ****a ****superhero ****must ****be ****a ****really****, **_**really **_**thankless ****task****...**

**To ****any ****of ****you ****that ****are ****Lifty ****and ****Shifty ****fans**** (...****which****, ****I****'m ****guessing****, ****is ****almost ****all ****of ****you****...), ****I ****want ****to ****apologize ****for ****Gryffin****'s ****despicable ****behavior****. ****I ****promise ****she ****might ****do ****it ****again****.**

**To further my ever-growing list of excuses, I couldn't get this online as soon as I hoped because I was busy with a musical our school was putting on. I have the role of the curtain monkey. **

**Dance, monkey, dance!**

**The ****next ****chapter ****will ****be ****around ****soon****. ****If ****my ****laptop ****keeps ****acting ****up ****the ****way ****it ****is**** (****acting ****up ****meaning **_**being **__**broken**_**), ****then ****it ****might ****be ****a ****bit ****late****. Cheers!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I am so sorry for the delays, everyone. An old hag was ****complaining ****that ****I ****didn't ****kiss ****her **_**buttachen **_**in ****a ****playbill****, ****so ****I've ****been ****putting ****up ****with ****her ****attitude ****for ****the ****past ****few ****days****. ****It ****sucks ****when ****your ****own ****mother ****acts ****more ****like ****an ****angst-ridden ****teenager ****than ****you ****do****...**

**This ****is ****just ****a ****bit ****of ****down-time ****for ****Gryffin****. ****I ****mean****, ****after ****a ****hospital ****trip****, ****dying****, ****and ****PWN-ing ****Shifty****, ****she ****kind ****of ****deserved ****a ****break****. ****Here ****is ****where ****you ****almost ****get ****a ****sense ****of ****what ****kind ****of ****place ****she's ****come ****from****. ****I ****can't ****imagine ****that ****Ivo ****was ****the ****kindest ****of ****masters****.**

**Oh****, ****and****, ****by ****the ****way****, ****Evil ****Flippy ****is ****a ****real ****pervert****. ****I ****never ****knew ****he ****could ****be ****so ****crude****.**

**_________________________(^_^)_________________________**

By the time Gryffin arrived at Splendid's house, with Splendid in tow, he had fallen asleep and was snoring softly. Gryffin flew them back into the window and set Splendid in a chair while she found a light switch and clicked it on. She didn't know what to do with Splendid, who didn't seem to want to wake up. What does one do with someone who is asleep? She knew that whenever she was asleep, lab assistants would always wake her up with some loud, unexpected sound, and then laugh as she looked around in panic. Something in her gut told Gryffin that she wasn't supposed to do that.

She took Splendid into his room and placed him carefully on the bed, covering him with an old quilt that was folded up neatly next to the pillow. Splendid shifted slightly and groaned, drawing his knees up to his chest. Gryffin gently laid her hand on his flushed cheek and felt that he was burning, so she got a wet, cold washrag and placed it on his forehead. He sighed and a faint smile lit his face.

"Thanks..." he whispered, his eyes opening a slit. Gryffin smiled back, then gently patted his hand.

"You're welcome," she answered softly. "Is there anything else I can do for you?" Splendid closed his eyes again, snuggling down into the sheets.

"No...you've done enough..." he breathed. In the next instant, he was asleep again, his chest slowly rising and falling. Gryffin stood there for a moment, thinking.

"Splendid?" she timidly asked. He didn't stir. "Is it okay if I go explore the forest?" He still didn't answer, but slept on. Gryffin tiptoed out of the room and shut the door behind her, wondering if he would mind if she stepped out for a little fresh air. She needed to think about what had happened to Shifty.

Gryffin flew out high over the treetops, admiring the night sky and the moonlight on the leaves below her. She was slightly worried about what would happen if Splendid woke up and found that she wasn't there, but the woods were too beautiful for her to stay concerned for long. When she looked down, she saw dense forests alternating with open fields and rolling hills. The wastelands of Mobus were nothing in comparison to the woods.

To her delight, she soon came upon a lake hidden deep in the trees. She didn't know how to swim, but she wanted to get a better look at the water. It looked like a shiny black sheet of glass; unmoving but welcoming, drawing her in. She landed on the shore and looked around. All was still and quiet, and there wasn't another soul in sight. No one could see her.

She untied her sash and slipped her robe off, leaving it on the shore as she waded into the lake. The cold water felt good against her bare skin, and swimming came to her quite easily, despite her large wings. She let herself drift under for a while, then her wings snapped open and she leapt up, flying about a hundred feet before diving straight down. She laughed as she plunged back into the water, bubbles erupting around her and getting caught under her fur. She soon tired of this and began to float on her back, staring up at the sliver of a moon above her.

A sudden sound in the bushes made her snap back to attention, every muscle drawn tight like a ready bowstring. She saw a pair of dark green eyes appear in the shadows and a low, gutteral growl met her ears.

"What are you looking at, you pervert?" she snapped, hoping she could scare whoever it was away. "You must really go out of your way to spy on naked girls." The eyes blinked and dissapeared, and she heard the sound of light footsteps as the intruder sped away. Gryffin sank back into the water, sighing, putting them out of her mind, for now.

Evil Flippy stalked away, wondering if he could find an easier target. He was trying to put as much distance between himself and that freak of a girl as he could.

"She's a fuckin' _psyco_..." he muttered. "Talking to me like that...doesn't she know she'll get murdered?!" Flippy sniggered.

_Can__'t __stand __up __to __a __girl __half __our __size__? _he asked, laughing. _And __here __I __was __thinking __everyone __tried __their __best __to __stay __out __of __your __way__._

"You shut up!" Evil Flippy snapped back. "If I wanted, I could go back there and kick her ass, right now!"

_Then __do __it__._

"No."

_Why __not__? __Chicken__? _Flippy chortled and began to make clucking sounds. Evil Flippy's face turned red.

"No...why do you care, anyways? Besides, she was completely naked!" he spat. His face burned. He could face over a thousand soldiers and destroy them all without so much as blinking, but he just couldn't bring himself to fight a nude girl, no matter how weird she looked. He stopped and glanced back. Maybe if he was really quiet...

_No__. __No __fucking __way__. __There __is __**no **__way __in __Hell__..._ Flippy said, and Evil Flippy rolled his eyes.

"Fine. Perfect. Whatever. You win, Goody-Goody." he spat angrily, drawing his Bowie knife from his jacket. He could hear Cuddles and Giggles whispering somewhere up ahead. The silly things, don't they know it's dangerous outside at night?

........................................................................................................................

Gryffin slowly pulled herself out of the water and got dressed again. She honestly didn't want to leave the peacefull lake and the glittering sky, but she had to get back and see if Splendid was okay. More importantly, she had to find out if he was angry or not. A sense of dread had begun to form in her stomach, and she tried to steel herself for the storm that was sure to come.

She landed back in the study, shaking and dripping on the cold floor. Her heart lurched unpleasently when she saw Splendid curled up in a chair, a book in his lap. Gryffin made a tiny squeak, and Splendid looked up and smiled as if he was about to go back to his book, but then he stopped. He slowly took his glasses off, folded them up, marked his page in the book, and put them both to the side. Then he got up and made his way over to her. Gryffin stood where she was, terrified.

"So," Splendid said in a calm voice. "You've been out." Gryffin nodded, too frightened to move. Splendid cocked his head to one side. "Are you okay?"

"P-please..." Gryffin whispered. "I won't do it again...I promise..." Her eyes had begun to glow blue again, and Splendid stepped slightly closer.

"What are you talking about? I'm confused..." he said, then realization dawned on his face. "Oh, Gryffin." Gryffin looked into his bright blue eyes, tears welling up and spilling over. "Look, you're not a peice of property anymore. I don't want you to feel trapped up here, okay?" Gryffin shuddered, wiping her eyes.

"But what if I try to escape?" she asked. "Don't you want to be sure that I won't try to leave?" Splendid shrugged.

"Escape what? I'm not holding you hostage here."

"But...aren't you my owner?"

"You don't have an owner anymore," Splendid replied, patting her shoulder. "You're a free woman, Gryff." Gryffin smiled at him, her eyes fading back to their normal pale grey color.

"You're so nice to me, Splendid." she said. "Thank you." Splendid grinned back.

"Oh, forget it," he said, acting embarrassed. "I'm going to bed. Good-night, you silly thing." Gryffin laughed and, to Splendid's surprise, gave him a hug before he walked back to his room.

She was feeling much better, it was true, but she was faced with yet another moment of confusion. If she was free, does that mean she was allowed to sleep on the couch? After thinking for a few moments, she decided to sleep on the rug in front of the fireplace, just in case. She curled up and closed her eyes, smiling as she fell asleep.

It's an oddly intriguing fact that in one day, Gryffin had laughed and smiled more than she ever had in the twenty years she spent on Mobus.

**______________________________________________________**

**Can you possibly imaguine not being allowed to sleep on a bed? Jeeze...**

**And Evil Flippy is such a pervert! Spying on her while she's skinny-dipping...the dirty bastard...**

**"HEY! You do realize I can read, right?!"-- Evil Flippy reading on in outrage.**

**I had something about Furbies on here, but thanks to some sort of typing glitch, they're gone. Also, why the fark does this website keep erasing my spaces in between text in bold and italics?!? It makes me look like an idiot who can't use a damn keyboard!**

**Next chapter might be a bit late. That's honestly out of my control; I'll be baby-sitting a sugar-glider for my Aunt Linda. **

**Cheers!**


	5. Creamy Filling

**This is a filler chapter, like the delicious filling of a pie, or for those who aren't afraid of heart attacks, like me, a Twinkie. Yes, Disco Bear, I'm talking to you. **

**By the way, thank you for your recipe for fried butter; I managed to put myself in the hospital with it. (^_^)**

**This...I wrote this mainly out of boredom, and partially because no one ever really stops to think about the 'bad guy.' No one thinks "Hey, maybe this guy isn't so bad. Maybe he has a family and friends and a social life and all that good **_**bullshitacha**_**." Nope! They just cheer for the good guy and boo the bad guy and life goes on. **

**But me, I almost like the Tiger General. WTF is his name, though? Right now he's just 'that tiger guy.' Maybe I could call him Tony...Tony the communist Hitler tiger guy...**

**His other eye must have been taken by Rocky Balboa. Eye of the tiger, my ass! I don't even think he apologized for ripping it right out of his head!**

**Evil Flippy: Why are you defending him?! He can take care of himself! I have a scar on my abdomen to prove it!**

**I'm just saying that maybe someone should take the middle ground here. Most fans see it as... **

**'OMG, Flippy's PWN-ing the bad guy!' **

**or...**

**'Go on, you one-eyed tiger dude, strangle him with your insides!' **

**or possibly even...**

**'You know those want to make hot, steamy, forbidden love.' *retch, splatter splatter* 'That happy face you saw Tiger Guy make, that wasn't for the pizza. That was for Flippy.'**

**Ugh...I just know someone will come out with that story. It's only a matter of time.**

**Evil Flippy: **_**WTF**_**?! (edges slowly away from Maur) You have a twisted mind, woman.**

**Gryffin: You're not so sane yourself, love.**

***ahem* Back to the topic...(shoots Evil Flippy and Gryffin pointed looks) ...No one thinks about the 'bad guy.' I was just wondering, what if he had a wife? Kids? What if one of those little tiger soldiers was his son or daughter? How did he lose his eye and left hand?**

**No one thinks about these things.**

**I, personally, would bring the guy pizza and not fling it in his face. Cheese is a real pain in the ass to wash out of your hair. Trust me, I know. **

**Evil Flippy: Damn you, you never bring **_**me**_** pizza. I don't know whether to cry or shove a live grenade up your-**

**Flippy: JEEZE! Get a room, you two!**

**Leave me out of your fantasies, Flippy. Both of you. *glares at Evil Flippy and Flippy***

**Anyhow, what I'm trying to say is this: **

**CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?!**

**I mean, the guy chose pizza over chasing Flippy around. He can't be that bad. ;)**

**Cheers!**


	6. Chapter 6

I have been so bored over Thanksgiving break, it isn't funny. The Hilton in North Carolina has nothing to do at all. I mean, we had the Internet on the T.V., but no Flash Player, so that means no games, no You Tube, and no Happy Tree Friends. I was miserable!

I don't have a computer with internet at home, either, so it takes me forever to get these stories online. What do you think so far? Feel free to *ahem* _leave __a __review__._ Just, you know, throwing it out there...no pressure...

So, my slightly wounded pride aside, here's the next installment of this tale about almost nothing! Weeeee!

**______________________________________________________**

Gryffin awoke the next morning to harsh sunlight pouring in one of the windows. Her dreams had been feverish ones about dead raccoons with rotting flesh, each holding a beating heart in its hand. She had a sickly moment of surprise when she woke up and couldn't remember where she was, but then the events of the previous day came back to her in a flash, and she sighed. She stiffly got to her feet and adjusted her robe, then wandered into the kitchen. Splendid wasn't there.

"Splendid?" Gryffin called, looking around. "Where are you?"

"In here..." came the weak reply. Gryffin walked into his room and found him curled up in his bed, shivering.

"You okay?" she asked, and he groaned.

"I feel like my stomach's trying to punch its way out," he said, then groaned again.

"Why don't you go to sleep?" Gryffin asked, smiling kindly at him. "Get some rest and I'll make you tea later, okay?" Splendid grinned at her and sank back into the covers as the alarm rang. He made to get up, but she put her hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down.

"What are you doing, Gryffin?" he asked, looking up in bewilderment.

"You're not going anywhere, sick as you are. Besides..." she added darkly. "...I have a score to settle with Lifty." Splendid chuckled.

"Be nice, okay? Don't drag their torture out _too_ long..." Suddenly he stopped and thought for a second. "...On second thought...rip their guts out, make them eat it, and say it was from me." Gryffin grinned and saluted.

"Your wish is my command, love." With that, she flew out the window. Splendid watched her go, laughing to himself.

"She isn't half bad, that alien."

.......................................................................................................................

Gryffin flew out over town, searching for the source of the alarm. She soon came upon a small jewelry store and, to her surprise, saw not only Lifty but Shifty too, looking perfectly alive and well. This sight confused her to the point that she halted in midair and cocked her head to one side. Shifty looked up by chance and spotted her.

"Oh, SHIT!" he yelped, dropping the armful of necklaces he was holding. Lifty looked up too and halted, his jaw dropping.

"I think it's that crazy bitch again..." he said, sounding panicked. Gryffin smiled sweetly and swooped down on them, laughing.

"Did you miss me, my dears?" she asked mockingly. Shifty turned to run while Lifty opened the box containing the jewel. He aimed the jewel at her, waiting for her to get sick, but she just stood there, staring at him. A wicked grin lit her face, and the demon took over. The idiot had no idea that he had just given her a nice little boost of energy.

"DIE, ASSHOLES!" the demon screamed, slashing her hand through the air. Shifty couldn't help but freeze where he stood, watching the horrific sight that was unfolding in front of him. Lifty gagged, clawing at his mouth in agony as his skull slowly slid out, eyes still attached. His ribs and spine followed, along with his lungs, brain, and intestines before he collapsed on the ground, an empty skin. The demon threw back her head and laughed as Shifty recoiled in disgust, staring down at his inside-out brother.

The demon smiled sweetly again, her bright blue eyes flashing with insanity, her lips curled back over needle-sharp teeth. She slashed again, aiming her magic towards Shifty's eyes. He reeled backwards, screaming, before dropping to his hands and knees. He screamed louder as his eyes exploded, turning to ash and burning the skin around his eye sockets. The demon stalked over to him, putting her hands on her hips.

"Now, I'm going to ask you some questions..." she said, kneeling down next to him. He had crumpled up on the ground, shaking from the pain. A low moan escaped his lips and turned into rough sobs as he instinctively rubbed the area around his eyes, trying to make the pain go away. The demon kept talking. "...You're going to answer me truthfully, aren't you?" Shifty nodded. "Good." She straightened up. "I thought I destroyed you yesterday. How are you still here?!"

"We...we come back..." he managed to gasp. "...P-please make the pain stop..." The demon thought for a second, relaying this information back to Gryffin.

_So __Splendid __was __telling __me __the __truth__..._she said thoughtfully. ..._but __then__, __it __makes __sense__. __I__'m __still __here__, __aren__'t __I__?_ The demon laughed, bringing her hand down and swiftly snapping Shifty's neck. He convulsed for a minute, blood trickling from the corners of his mouth, then let out a gurgled, raspy breath and died. The demon kicked him aside as if he were trash.

"Didn't I tell you? You can't be killed here. We can destroy without consequence." She let out a soft moan of pleasure at the thought of being allowed to feed her bloodlust with an endless supply of victims.

_We__'ll __see__,_ Gryffin said, as if she had some choice in the matter. _Can __you __please __just __destroy __that __gem __now__?_ The demon laughed again.

"You do it. I'm saving my energy for later." Her eyes faded back to grey, and Gryffin smiled, looking down at the slaughtered Lifty and Shifty.

"Nicely done..." she said, walking over to the gem. She picked it up out of its box and looked at it for a moment, studying the facets on its surface. It felt just like a Chaos Emerald, but the shape was that of a glowing green acorn. After some thought, she quickly buried it in the dirt, regrowing the grass to make it look like nothing was there. "Who was stupid enough to bring an object like a Chaos Emerald to this planet?" she asked with a sigh in her voice.

_This __planet __is __full __of __idiots__..._the demon said. _...__and __don__'t __look __now__, __but __I __think __there__'s __someone __watching __you__._

"Huh?" Gryffin whipped around to face Flippy and Mime. Flippy looked confused and slightly disgusted, but Mime's eyes were shining, and he looked simply delighted.

"We...we heard screams..." Flippy said, sounding slightly breathless as he stared down at Lifty and Shifty. Gryffin cocked her head to one side.

"Do you two follow me around or something?" she asked. _Why __is __it __always __these __guys__?_ Mime grinned, nodding brightly, but Flippy shook his head.

"We were just around..." he said slowly, edging away from the mangled raccoons. Mime looked at him, then at Gryffin and shrugged. He tapped her arm, made a slashing movement, pointed to Lifty and Shifty, then pointed to Gryffin with his head cocked to one side.

"Huh?" she asked, not sure what he was doing. He gritted his teeth in frustration as Flippy mumbled something about meeting Flaky and walked away.

Mime grabbed her wrist, made her pat Shifty's carcass, then pointed to her again. This time, Gryffin understood.

"Yes, I killed him," she said. "Why?"

Mime put his hands close to her eyes, then pointed at the sky. Blue. He waited for her to comprehend, then pointed to Shifty angain and shook his head, grinning.

"Okay, so I didn't really kill him," she said, mildly irritated. "Why does it matter?"

He pointed in the way Flippy had gone, patted her eyes again, then pointed to the grass. Gryffin stared blankly at him, and he smacked his hand to his forehead with a sigh of annoyance. Mime repeated the gestures three times before what he was saying dawned on her.

"Flippy has a demon?"

Mime cocked his head to the side again, then began to rapidly speak in sign language, which Gryffin didn't understand.

"I don't know what you're trying to say, love. Here..." She reached in the pocket of her robe and took out a pencil and notepad, which she then held out to Mime. "...Maybe this might be easier." Mime took them and began to scribble furiously.

_What __do __you __mean__ '__demon__?'_ he wrote. _Flippy __has __PTSD__, __and __he __normally __is __the __one __doing __the __brutal __murder __around __here__. __What __did __Lifty __and __Shifty __do __to __you__, __anyways__?_

"Do you see this patch of grass?" Gryffin asked, pointing. Mime nodded, looking confused. "It hides a gem known on Mobus as a Chaos Emerald. Lifty and Shifty hurt Splendid with it, and I refuse to take that sitting down." Mime glanced at the ground at Gryffin's feet, then shrugged.

_Well__, __I __guess __they __deserved __what __they __got__. __I__'m __Mime__, __by __the __way__. __What__'s __your __name__?_

"I'm Gryffin," she said, holding her hand out to Mime. To her surprise, instead of shaking her hand, he grabbed it and pulled her into a hug. "Um...nice to meet you, too..." she said, taken slightly aback. Mime grinned, taking a balloon out of his pocket. He blew it up and deftly twisted it until it took the shape of a dog. Gryffin smiled and tapped the dog on the head, making it amble around in his hand. Mime jumped backwards, startled, and Gryffin began to laugh.

_What__?_ he asked. _Most __balloons __don__'t __jump __around __when __I__'m __holding __them__. __How __did __you __do __that__, __anyways__?_

"I have a Chaos Emerald fused into my body," Gryffin replied. "It lets me do spellwork and the like." Mime glanced again the where the Chaos Emerald was buried, scratching one of his sharp little antlers in thought. He looked at the balloon dog again, an odd gleam in his dark blue eyes.

_That__'s __very __interesting__. __I__ think __I __hear __Splendid __calling __you__, __you __know__._

"Huh?!" Gryffin whipped around, listening. "I don't hear anything, but I guess I should get back to him. He still isn't feeling well." Mime hugged her again, then shooed her off. As she flew away, he waved until she was out of sight, then turned his attention to the patch of grass where she had been standing. An idea began to form in his mind, and he slowly kneeled down and dug beneath the dirt.

His heart leapt into his throat when he caught a glimmer of green. Perfect.

.......................................................................................................................

When Gryffin made it back to Splendid's house, she found him still in bed, staring at the ceiling in a bored sort of way.

"Splendid?" she called, and he jumped slightly.

"WHAT THE F-? Oh, it's you," he said, grinning sheepishly. "For the love of God, don't sneak up on me like that. How did it go?" Gryffin laughed and gave Splendid a blow-by-blow description of what had happened to the twin raccoons.

"...And then he just crumpled up with blood gushing out of his face! It was awesome!" Splendid grinned at her.

"Aren't you just the little ticking time-bomb? I always knew you could fight well." He sounded proud.

"How did you know?" Gryffin asked, and Splendid grinned wider.

"I was puking, not blind. By the way, that was very Flippy-esque of you, ripping his heart out with your teeth," His grin faded as he wondered how such a sweet little girl could have turned so violent.

"Oh, and I met Flippy and Mime again," Gryffin said, pulling him away from his musing. "Um...is there something wrong with Flippy's mind?" Splendid hesitated slightly.

"Kind of..." he said. "...Flippy has Post-Traumatic Stress, so things can get a little violent around him. Why, did he hurt you?"

"No, silly. Tell me...do his eyes change color or something?" Splendid could see what she was getting at.

"His eyes _do_ change color, but they turn green, not blue. Why did your eyes do that, anyways?" he asked. "Are you trying to tell me you have PTSD?"

"No...I was just curious, that's all," Gryffin said. "And I don't know why my eyes do that. I was just angry, I guess." She felt bad lying to Splendid, but she didn't want to risk him freaking out about a demon in her mind. "So..." she asked, trying to drive the guilt away. "...Does Mime ever talk?"

"Nope. The boy hasn't said a thing since he's been here," Splendid replied. "I personally think he's not quite right in the head. Didn't you say you met him?" Gryffin nodded.

"He's very sweet," she said smiling. "And he has such pretty eyes...they're almost purple..." Splendid couldn't help but smile; her face had changed from serious to dreamy in under a second, and all because of _Mime__._

"I see," he said, trying his best to keep a straight face. "He really likes you, you know."

"Really?!" Gryffin squealed, clasping her hands together under her chin. "Do you _really_ think so?" That did it for Splendid. He buried his face in his blanket, snorting with laughter. Gryffin sat there staring at him, feeling slightly confused.

"What's so funny?" she asked slowly, a hurt look creeping onto her face. Splendid managed to get a grip on himself and resurfaced, his eyes streaming with mirth.

"Nothing..." he said, wiping his eyes. "...I had a...erm...coughing fit, that's all. Why don't you go find Mime again? I'll be fine right here." Gryffin nodded and walked away, drooping slightly.

"You didn't have to laugh at me like that..." she muttered, feeling slightly angry, slightly ashamed. _And __I __thought __Splendid __was __my __friend__._

______________________________________________________

**Aww, Splendid...you big meanie...**

**I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it, really. I'm more worried as to what Mime is doing with that Chaos Emerald, known on the HTF world as a *ahem* _Kryptonut_. I just hope he doesn't do anything stupid...**

**I have decided to move this to the M-rated group, where it belongs. Now I don't have to be that tame anymore. Look foreword to some stuff that isn't 'fo da kids' in later chapters. And, by the way, this is going to be a long story, as I have said before.**

**Next ****chapter ****is ****almost ****done ****already****. ****Just ****a ****heads****-****up****, ****the ****demon ****gets ****a ****name****, ****and ****things ****might ****get ****a ****little ****hot ****between ****two ****homicidal ****maniacs****. (****hint****, ****hint****, ****clue****-****by****-****four****)**

**Cheers!**


	7. Letter from the Editor

I have a bit of bad news, all. Becasuse I can only get these chapters online while I'm a school, I can't edit anything, which means I can't put anything on for fear that my spaces will be erased. I will try again tomorrow, but for now, you might just have to wait...

And I'm deeply sorry that I had to move my story to the 'M-rated' section, but I'm not too sure I want to get in trouble because some little kid decided to use a 'nice' word around their parents.

Until we meet again,

Maur.


	8. Chapter 8

**Woo-hoo! I'm back! Did ya miss me?**

**And verily I say unto thee, read on and bask in the glory of blood, gore, disco, and a certain demon's naughty little crush. **

**I've discovered that it is in the nature of demons to seduce almost anyone they take a liking to, thus, there will be some Lemony Snick...er...I mean, lemony moments, but no sex yet.**

**Eerie: What do you mean, 'yet?' *edges away***

**______________________________________________________**

Gryffin landed on the shore of the lake she had visited last night and looked around. Mime was nowhere to be seen, but she _did_ see someone dancing around nearby. It was a golden bear wearing a bright yellow suit. She couldn't help but stare at him.

"People here dress so strangely..." she mused, wondering how he got his hair to stand up in a giant poof like that. He spun around, saw her, and began to strut over to her, grinning.

"Hey, baby!" he exclaimed as he drew near. "How you doin'?" He winked at her and growled playfully in a slow, deep voice that made Gryffin like him instantly.

"Um, okay, I guess..." she replied, giggling. "Who are you?" He turned the volume down on his headphones.

"I'm shocked at you, not knowin' who I am. I'm Disco Bear, sugar!" He quickly turned and did a split. Gryffin couldn't help but laugh as he stood up, then promptly lost his balance and fell over. He got back up, his face pink, and tried to act like nothing had happened. "Here now, let me guess your name..." He looked her up and down. "...I got it! You must be Angel."

"No..." Gryffin replied. "...I'm Gryffin." Disco Bear winked at her again.

"Are you sure? Because you look like you could take me on to heaven, baby!" He danced some more as Gryffin dissolved into laughter.

"You're crazy, you know that?" she asked, and he laughed too.

"Ask me if I care, girl." His eyes lit up as Giggles walked past, looking for all the world like she was trying to ignore the alien and her friend. "Well, well...what have we got here?" She rolled her eyes at him, but he wolf-whistled after her anyways. "You want to party with a _real_ man, sweet thing?"

"Get a life, loser!" she shot back before she flounced away. Disco Bear shook his head, looking slightly depressed.

"She's a sexy thing, but she's a real bitch..." he said, then he looked up and grinned. "...But you're cute, and you ain't acted like a bitch yet..."

"I like someone else..." Gryffin said quickly. "...Not to take anything away from you, of course." Disco Bear sighed, then grinned, seeming to cheer up a bit.

"Just to warn you, I ain't the type to give up easy," he said, winking again. "Do you know Mime, by any chance?" Gryffin nodded.

"I do. Why?"

"He's been lookin' for you...said he had somethin' to ask you..." Disco Bear noticed that Gryffin's white face had turned slightly pink. "Why are you blushin'?"

"Because, that's why." Her light grey eyes stared straight into his dark golden ones, and he began to grin.

"Uh-oh..." he said slowly. "...You _like_ him, don't you?"

"Of course I do, silly," she answered, staring at him like he was slightly dense. He stared back, one eyebrow raised.

"And you're just gonna come right out and say it. You don't care who knows."

"That's right." Disco Bear laughed.

"I like that, baby! No sense hidin' it when you're hot for someone, right?" he asked, winking at her. Suddenly, he grabbed her hand and twirled her around, dipping her almost to the ground before whipping her back up.

"HOLY SHIT!" she screamed, a sharp pain shooting through her arm. Her skin tore, and blood gushed out of her severed limb which now writhed on the ground. Blood was soaking the sleeve of her robe, and she knelt on the ground, tears streaming down her face. Disco Bear stepped back, his hands covering his mouth.

"Oh my God, baby! I'm so sorry!" he yelped, guilt written all over his face.

"It's fine..." Gryffin said through clenched teeth as she picked up the limb and reattached it, healing the wound. "Just...you know...warn me next time, okay?" She thought for a moment, looking slightly bewildered. "I never knew you could rip someone's arm off like that...it came off so easily..."

"It's livin' in this place," Disco Bear said, nodding his head knowingly. "It gets you fragile after a while, you know? Cuddles got split in half just by landing on some stairs." He looked up, his eyes scanning the sky. "It's like there's something that watches us, you know, baby? Watches us die and then brings us back." He grinned suddenly. "But then, it means I ain't never gonna die, just like disco. It ain't dead, 'cause I don't _stay_ dead, baby!" Gryffin cocked her head to one side.

"That's kind of deep," she said, and he chuckled.

"That's about as deep as water in a spoon, baby. You want a deep thinker, try Sniffles."

.......................................................................................................................

Gryffin talked with Disco Bear the rest of the day, and he told her everything he knew about the other inhabitants of the forest. She noticed that he talked longest about girls, three girls in particular: Giggles, Petunia, and Flaky.

"Giggles is the sweetest girl I ever met, you know?" he said almost dreamily. "Someday, I'm gonna marry that woman..." Gryffin stared at him.

"Isn't she the one who pranced by an hour ago and called you a loser?" she asked. Disco Bear's face turned pink again.

"Um...yeah..." he said slowly. "But, I know she can't resist a stud like me."

"Really? How long have you been trying?" Gryffin asked, and he coughed loudly into his closed fist.

"...Four years..." he mumbled in an embarrassed sort of way. "But.........erm.........wanna hear about Petunia?"

And so it went until the sun set. When it had grown dark again, Disco Bear went home, and Gryffin found herself alone again. The demon inside of her moved, lifting her head and hopefully sniffing the air before taking over, stretching and peering about with her bright blue eyes.

"The night is young, little girl," she said. "How about we have a little fun? My senses tell me that something wicked this way comes, and I intend to meet it head-on." With that being said, the demon took off through the woods, giggling a child's giggle; high and sweet and evil. She stopped in front of a house made from an overturned log, then stood at the door and began to yell to the other side.

"Yoo-hoo! Is anyone home?" she called mockingly. "Wakey, wakey, Sleeping Beauty!" A guttural roar came from within, and the demon wrenched the door open and went inside.

There, standing in the hallway, was Evil Flippy. His eyes glowed green, his teeth rivaled the ones found in the mouth of the great white shark, his voice was deep and rough. When he saw her, his entire face lit up and a wicked grin began to twist his mouth.

"Well, look at this..." he said, pulling a Bowie knife from his pocket. "...Just when I was getting bored, a little prize like you comes wandering in." He leered at her, licking the blade of the knife. "Why don't you come here and let me snap that pretty neck, girlie?"

"You want me, handsome?" the demon replied. "Then come get me!"

She unsheathed her claws and crouched down as he flew at her, his knife held high. She dodged and landed a heavy blow on his chest with her claws, then managed to rip at his throat with her teeth before his momentum pulled him out of her range.

He staggered slightly, cursing, then dabbed at the wound with the sleeve of his camo jacket. A blood-curdling roar came from his lips and he tried again, this time managing to lightly cut her on the flank. The demon felt the blade go under the skin, but no deeper, before they were a safe distance from each other again. Evil Flippy was grinning at her, poised to strike again, but making no further movements. The demon felt a surge of rage well up inside her chest, and she narrowed her bright blue eyes. Why was he _toying_ with her?!

She used Chaos Control, appearing right beside, him, then nimbly plucked the knife from his hands.

"Ooh, what have we here, a pretty plaything?" she teasingly asked, admiring the knife's keen edge. He stared at her for a moment, too stunned to react, then a look of wild rage came over his face.

"GIVE IT BACK!" Evil Flippy roared, swinging his closed fist at her. She dodged, swiping at the side of his face, and he yelped and clasped a hand to his bleeding cheek.

"I don't know..." she said. "...This toy is too pretty for little _boys_...maybe if you were a _man_, I'd let you have it." She grinned and batted her eyelashes at him. Evil Flippy's eyes went wide with rage, and he took a hand grenade out of his pocket.

"_I said_ GIVE IT BACK!" he screamed, flinging it at her. She carelessly batted it off to the side and out a window.

"Here," she said disdainfully. "You need all the help you can get." She flung to knife to him. He caught it and looked at it lovingly before looking back at her, his eyes hardened with anger.

"You _will_ regret this," he growled, and she laughed.

"A night to regret?" she cooed, licking her lips. "I _love_ nights like these. Bring it on, handsome."

Evil Flippy roared, flying at her again, and he managed to cut one of her ears off before she hit back and gouged out one of his eyes. He stabbed her in the shoulder, she retaliated, and so on.

.......................................................................................................................

They fought like this for what seemed like hours. One would fall, and the other would circle in for the ending blow, only to have the fallen one rise and fight again. The demon was the first to tire, and Evil Flippy soon followed. Before long, they were too exhausted to do more than growl at each other, flanks heaving and dripping with sweat and blood. Their eyes met, and, without saying a word, Evil Flippy put his Bowie knife back in his jacket, and the demon sheathed her claws. There was a few moments of peace. Outside, crickets and frogs were calling their sweet songs to the warm night.

"So," she said, just to break the silence.

"So." Evil Flippy stared at her. Her robe had been torn, and he could see the outline of her body through the thin fabric. "Who are you?" The demon smiled, and he noticed her sharp little fangs, almost like the ones in the mouth of a kitten. A very attractive kitten, with rather large wings. He sighed.

"My name is Eerie," she said. "And you must be Flippy, right?" He nodded.

"Most call me Evil Flippy," he said. His green eyes looked straight into her blue ones. "I can't believe you beat me. No man alive ever beat me in a fight."

"Put your wounded pride away for a moment and let me look at you."

"What?!" he snapped, his face becoming flushed and his remaining eye wide with surprise. Eerie rolled her eyes and went closer to him, taking in the damage she had inflicted. One eye had been ripped out, and his stomach was torn open, not to mention the other cuts and bruises that covered every area of exposed skin.

"I can fix that..." she said. "...Hang on." Mustering the last of her power, she healed herself. She gave a sigh of relief as her wounds healed and her strength returned. Eerie then took Evil Flippy's hands and healed him, feeling a tiny flower of warmth bloom in her stomach as his skin touched hers. Gryffin huddled in the corners of her mind, doing her best to ignore the demon and the way she was handling Gryffin's own body. She closed her eyes and thought of nothing but Mime.

When he was healed, Evil Flippy couldn't help but wonder if it would be worth his while to attack her now, while she was off guard. But then, he thought, she did help him.

"Everything still working okay?" Eerie asked, wondering why he was keeping so quiet. She stepped a little closer, and was surprised when he didn't back up.

"I'm fine, see?" he replied sharply, trying to untangle his jumbled thoughts._ Oh, God...what the Hell do I say?!_ Her bright blue eyes were beginning to make him feel dizzy.

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked. "You're not going to cut my face off and make me eat it? No snappy comments designed to distract me while you rip my feathers out?" Evil Flippy shrugged.

"I'm still stuck on the part where you kicked my ass," he said, his lip curling into a disbelieving sneer. He couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that someone so small had managed to almost kill him, and then still had the nerve to look him straight in the eye. Eerie was the one who shrugged this time.

"You're a worthy opponent," she said, trying to sound bold and kind at the same time. "Most people I fight can't even hit me, let alone cut my ears off." More awkward silence.

Eerie couldn't help but be slightly impressed that he had managed to keep his madness under control thus far, but then, she didn't know what was going on in his mind at the moment. Evil Flippy was a man of few words or less, and he realized he had already said more to this tiny female then he had ever spoken to anyone else, save Flippy. This fact intrigued him greatly, and he wondered why he had been so willing to open his mouth around her. Perhaps it was the defiant way she looked at him, or maybe his mating instincts were taking hold; either way, her presence was at once comforting and unsettling.

He thought, for a brief moment, what would happen if he moved closer, or held her, or brushed his lips against her cheek. A lingering pain in his right eye told him to be wary; it reminded him that she had bested him at his own game. Still, a warm, strange feeling had shot through his sides and stomach at the thought of feeling her skin against his lips, incredibly similar to the feeling he got when hearing the screams of his many victims. She was still staring at him with those eyes that were just as mad as his own; those insane, haunting eyes that were to lurk on the edges of his mind for many nights to come. He steeled himself for what he was going to do, and couldn't help but marvel at the fact that murder came so easy, but this female almost scared him.

Without warning, he quickly wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her, not giving her time to fight back. Lust shot wildly through both of them, and Eerie found herself clawing at his shoulders, her body fitting so perfectly against his. She had the sense of mind to think that the whole situation was unusual; Evil Flippy's mind was blank for once. He groaned loudly, caressing her, and didn't seem to notice when she accidentally knocked his hat onto the floor.

"...I still hate you..." he said when he paused in kissing her, trying for his old tone. Eerie wasn't buying it.

"Oh, please. You're looking at me the way a fat kid looks at donuts." She toyed with his dog tags, tracing her claws slowly up and down his neck. "Why the sudden change, hmm?" Evil Flippy grinned sheepishly, his skin flushed.

"Why do you care? The point is, I don't think I'm going to kill you...yet...." With sudden speed, he pushed her down onto the floor and climbed on top of her, doing his best to bite her throat without breaking the skin. She fought back, but playfully, as if she knew what was coming and eagerly anticipated it.

Lust pounded through him with every tiny movement she made, and he moaned quietly, his eyes closing in spite of himself. Eerie's graceful hands managed to find his most sensitive areas: his ears, his collarbone, the backs of his legs, his lips, and she enjoyed gently teasing every one of them and hearing his pleasure-ridden reactions. She didn't seem to care that they both were still caked with each other's gore, nor did she mind that he handled her roughly, biting and growling as he pulled down her robe, his hands groping without conscience.

Flippy, still being forced to remain dormant in his own mind, was growing angrier by the second.

_Knock it the fuck off before you get me in trouble!_ he yelped, trying his best to force Evil Flippy's mind away from Eerie. _Do you have any idea how much shit I'll have to put up with if you get her pregnant or something?! I take enough grief as it is, cleaning up after you, but this is getting too far out of hand._

_You can't tell me what to do! _Evil Flippy shot back hatefully. Flippy switched tactics quickly, praying that he could convince Evil Flippy to leave the girl alone before things got far beyond his control.

_But the night's almost gone,_ he said. _If you don't hurry, you might miss out on your chance to kill someone. Which is it going to be, lust or bloodlust? _ Evil Flippy knew he was right, but he still wished that Flippy were somewhere else, somewhere where he couldn't bother him with his stupid little qualms about 'right' and 'wrong.' Sighing unhappily, he forced himself to get off of Eerie. She sat up, looking confused and slightly hurt.

"What's wrong?" she asked, rubbing a luscious little bruise that was beginning to form at the base of her throat. Evil Flippy shook his head, standing up and picking his hat up off the floor. He dusted it off and donned it again, calling Flippy every name he could think of.

"Nothing. How about we pay a friend of ours a nice little visit?" he replied, taking an axe off the wall. It weighted nicely in his hands, and he wished Flippy was standing on front of him so he could rend the little bastard's head from his shoulders. Eerie sighed and got up, unsheathing her claws, and together they made their way to Lumpy's trailer.

When they got there, the first thing they noticed was that the alarm was going off, though Lumpy seemed completely oblivious. To add more to the din inside, the T.V. was turned up as loud as it would go, the sounds of a helicopter blaring from a huge speaker system. Evil Flippy rang the doorbell, as if Lumpy would be able to hear it over the racket. Eerie shook her head, sighing.

"We need another plan," she said, but Evil Flippy rang the doorbell several more times, his patience clearly beginning to wane.

"FUCK THIS!" he suddenly screamed, flinging the axe down and staking away. Eerie couldn't help but giggle at his sudden outburst, trying her best to muffle her laughter before he turned on her and decided to fight her instead. "Get up here and help me," he ordered, climbing on top of his house. Together, they rigged a giant pendulum, designed to swing over and crush Lumpy's trailer, and hopefully, the idiotic moose with it. The pendulum obviously had other ideas. It missed, swung back, and knocked the two of them off the roof.

Evil Flippy lay on his back in the grass, stunned, before staggering to his feet, muttering curses under his breath. He gestured for Eerie to follow him as he made his way to a barn. Inside was the most impressive array of weapons she had ever seen. Evil Flippy saw the amazed look on her face and smiled, actually smiled, at her.

"Do you like it?" he asked, making his way over to a helicopter parked in the middle of the barn. "It took me years to collect all this, and I know how to use each and every weapon in here." He revved up the helicopter, thinking Eerie had followed him, but instead, she was admiring a polished blade that looked like a cross between a scythe, an axe, and a pike. The back blade of the helicopter pulled her in, and Evil Flippy froze with a sickened look on his face.

The pain was excruciating, but Eerie couldn't help but watch in sick fascination as her body was torn to pieces, her insides being flung about the room. Evil Flippy had jumped from the driver's seat, not thinking to turn the helicopter off. He was calling to her, asking her something, but she no longer heard his voice through the darkness that swirled in and clouded her vision. She wondered if he would still be around when she woke up again, then wondered if she even would wake up again. No matter. The demon had finally found something to live for.

______________________________________________________

**Please don't flame me for sticking a FlippyxOC pairing in here! Eerie has the best of intentions, I promise, and It's not like Gryffin herself even likes Flippy, let alone love him. **

**Eerie: Welcome to the OC, bitch!**

**Gryffin: We **_**are**_** the OC, you slut.**

**These two are like milk and grapefruit juice; totally curdling each other. I promise the next chapter will be a bit better...I'm kind of going through some shit right now, you know? Oh, and...Gryffin gets a baby! (^_^) I won't tell any more than that.**

**Cheers!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Did you like the last chapter? It was pretty awkward to write, and I had to make sure not to take Evil Flippy too out of character...but then, he _did_ get teary-eyed in 'Hear Today, Gone Tomorrow,' so it has been proven that he actually has a heart under all that insane evilness.**

**Oh, while I'm at it, I want to thank Sandersfamily for giving a shite and leaving a review. It feels good to be tolerated, so thank you, Sanders, from the bottom of my heart.**

**Gryffin ****gets ****a ****baby****! ****A ****slime****-****spewing****, ****flesh****-****eating****, ****blood****-****guzzling ****baby****. ****Hey****, ****no ****one ****said ****that ****parenting ****was ****easy****...**

**______________________________________________________**

Gryffin awoke with the morning sun in her eyes. A strange, blue shadow loomed over her, gently rubbing one of her hands, which were cold as ice.

"Who the Hell...?" she asked, then her vision cleared as her eyes became accustomed to the bright light. "Oh, Splendid." The blue squirrel grinned at her and helped her sit up.

"Hey, Gryffin! It's good to finally have you awake." He hugged her tight, surprised at how relieved he was that she had opened her eyes at last. "Is everything working okay inside? Nothing...you know...out of place?" Gryffin took a hesitant breath and felt her lungs catch as if they were about to burst.

"I feel stiff," she replied in a hoarse voice. "And I think my lungs are messed up..." Splendid got up and pulled the little winged cat to her feet, studying her carefully.

"That always happens. You'll get used to it in time." He noticed that she was looking around anxiously, her light grey eyes scanning the surrounding area. "Who're you looking for? Mime?"

"No, Flippy." She turned her eyes on Splendid, giving him a stern look as if he were a child, and she an irritated parent. "He was acting really weird last night, and I have a few questions for him."

"Wait a minute...you were with him last night?!" Splendid was suddenly looking angry and worried. "Did he hurt you?! And how did you end up at his house in the first place?" Gryffin winced, remembering she hadn't told Splendid about Eerie. She was about to spout off some lame excuse, but a hand on her shoulder made her stop and whip around. There was Eerie herself, looking bored.

"Well, are you going to introduce us?" she asked, examining her claws. "He can't see or hear me, you know, but it _is_ very rude to be ignored." Gryffin shook her head.

"That's not a good idea right now," she muttered, hoping Splendid couldn't hear her. "We can talk later, okay?" Eerie rolled her eyes, sighing in an exasperated way.

"Fine," she huffed. "I'm going to bed. Don't wake me up if you're not going to acknowledge the fact that I'm here, you ungrateful thing."

"Take a pill, Eerie," Gryffin said as the demon vanished. She felt a familiar weight on her mind and knew that Eerie was back to where she normally was. Gryffin turned back to Splendid, who was staring at her.

"What the Hell was that all about?" he asked, one eyebrow raised. "Do you often talk to people who aren't there?"

"I...er....."

"Seriously, Gryffin, what's going on?" Splendid crossed his arms and began to tap one foot impatiently. "...I'm waiting for an explanation..." Gryffin hung her head, sighing.

"It's a demon, Splendid. She's been following me around ever since I got here. I tried to ignore her, but..." Gryffin expected Splendid to call her a liar, or perhaps take her to a mental ward, but instead he rolled his eyes, looking relieved.

"Is that all? For a second there, I thought you had gone Flippy's way and begun to talk to yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"Flippy, as I'm sure you know, has PTSD. He just goes nuts and kills anyone that crosses his path." Splendid sighed, looking down. "Everyone expects me to do something about it, but I think it's best to just let him be. It's not like everyone else here hasn't killed someone before."

"Does he have split personalities or something?" Gryffin asked, remembering how Evil Flippy acted nothing like the friendly person that Disco Bear had described. Splendid shrugged.

"Yes...no...I don't know..." Splendid was beginning to look bored with the conversation. "Anyhow, I found something that might interest you." He grabbed her hand, and the two of them flew off.

"Where are we going?" Gryffin asked. Splendid scanned the forest below, looking slightly anxious.

"There's this place I found," he said. "I think you might like it." She glanced at him, but his eyes were trained on the ground.

"What do you mean, a place?" she asked. Splendid came to a halt, then grinned at her.

"I found you a home, silly," he replied. "You couldn't have thought that you'd be stuck at my place forever, right?"

"I guess so." Gryffin couldn't help but feel slightly uneasy about living by herself. The only times she had ever truly been alone was when she was locked up in the laboratory. They had sometimes, as a punishment or a joke, put her in a cold, dark room with no food or water and left her there for days. It had frightened her then, and she was surprised to find that it still slightly scared her now, after she was as far away from Mobus as she possibly could be.

Splendid was staring at her, his head slightly cocked to one side.

"You okay?" he asked, and she nodded.

"I'm just worried, that's all. I'm not sure I know how to take care of a house," Gryffin said meekly. Splendid chuckled.

"Oh, come on. You turned Lifty inside-out with nothing more than your...er...natural abilities. It should be easy for you." Gryffin sighed.

"There's nothing 'natural' about me, love," she said. "But if you honestly think I'll be okay..." She grinned up at him, and Splendid thought his heart would melt. He had just noticed that her smile looked exactly like his.

"That's my girl," he said fondly. "Come on, it should be right over in that clump of trees." Gryffin nodded and followed him as he flew off again.

Soon they arrived in a particularly nice part of the woods, a small group of apple trees that were next to a small pond. There was a tiny cabin in the middle of all the trees; a tidy little house made of black painted wood. Gryffin squeaked and clasped her hands beneath her chin.

"Is this house really for me?" she asked. Splendid grinned at her.

"Of course. No one's lived here for years, and it's not like anyone owns this place--" He was cut off when Gryffin tackled him with a hug.

"Oh, thank you!" she squealed, her arms tight around his neck.

"C-can't...breathe..." he choked, and she let go of him, grinning sheepishly. He grinned back, massaging his throat. "How about we go inside?" Gryffin nodded, and Splendid opened the door.

"Oh, WOW!" she exclaimed, looking around. The furniture was ancient and dignified; all black, just like the outside. Everything was clean, although the entire house had a cold feeling to it as if no one had stepped foot inside for centuries. "It's beautiful..." Gryffin sighed, starry-eyed. "...I just love old places like this..."

"You honestly like it?" Splendid asked incredulously. "It isn't...you know... too dark and spooky?" Gryffin shook her head.

"I love it. Can I move in today?" she asked, and Splendid laughed.

"Go right ahead! I'm just glad you like this old dump..." he said, then almost fell over backwards when she hugged him again. It was just then that someone came crashing into the front door, covered in green slime and blood. It was Pop, panting with exhaustion and shaking from head to toe.

"You're Gryffin, right?" he demanded once he had gathered his wits, and Gryffin nodded.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I need some help. Cub's been...well....there's no time to explain!" He sounded like he was on the brink of hysteria. "You've got to help him!"  
Splendid let out a sharp, mirthless laugh.

"Oh, you're going to just _love_ this," he said, crossing his arms. "The same thing happens every year, doesn't it?" Gryffin was confused until Splendid explained. "Cub always manages to get possessed around Halloween. We're not sure how, but the demon needs to be caught and gotten rid of." Gryffin nodded.

"So...I'm guessing you think I can help?" she asked, and Splendid nodded.

"I told Pop about your...erm...skills," he said lamely. "You know, because he was all worried and...stuff..." Gryffin rolled her eyes, sighing.

"Take me to him..." she said wearily. "...The sooner I kill that demon, the better." Pop grinned.

"So you'll help?"

"Isn't that what I just told you?" she snapped. "Seriously, man, are you oblivious?" Splendid began to snicker, and Pop glared at him.

"Keep laughing, super screw-up," he said. "There's a huge comet heading right towards the west side of the planet now. Haven't you been paying attention to the news?"

"WHAT?! Oh, _SHIT_!" Splendid cursed, slapping a hand to his forehead. He ran out the door and took off, leaving a scorch mark on the ground. Pop dragged Gryffin out by her arm and the two set off at a fast walk, Gryffin jogging to keep up with Pop's long strides.

"We could always fly instead," she panted, but Pop shook his head.

"I don't so well with flying," he said, almost coldly. "Unless you want me to puke on you." Gryffin rolled her eyes, guessing he was still miffed about her snapping at him for being so obviously clueless.

In agonizingly slow time, or so it seemed to Gryffin, they arrived at his house. Inside could be heard screams and crashes, and Gryffin didn't waste time with letting Pop fumble with the keys. She blasted the door open, ignoring his angry mutters, and strode in. A scene of chaos met her eyes; green slime and blood was splattered all over everything, shards of broken glass and rubble cluttered the floor. In the midst of it all, Lumpy was struggling with Cub, who was trying to strangle him with a pair of tentacles that snaked out of his mouth.

Gryffin rolled up her sleeves and grabbed Cub around the middle. He screeched angrily, swiping at her with a slimy appendage, but she tugged one way as Lumpy tugged another, and the demon was pulled out of Cub's mouth with a sickening _snap._ Lumpy disgustedly dropped the demon, which was cowering in the middle of the floor, its tentacles quivering as tears rolled out of its beady eyes. Cub sat up, green slime staining the fur around his mouth.

Pop dropped a shovel he had picked up and ran over to Cub, scooping him up off the floor. Gryffin smiled in their direction before turning her attention to the demon.

It was the smallest, most pitiful excuse for a demon that she had ever seen. When it stopped crying, it slowly began to crawl over to Pop and Cub, getting tangled in its own tentacles more than once. It almost seemed that it couldn't take more than a few steps without falling down, and it always made sure to land flat on its face. After a few minutes in which it had the full attention of everyone in the room, it managed to make its way over to the father bear and his son.

"Daddy?" the demon asked, trying to clamber up Pop's leg. Pop shook it off in irritation, muttering under his breath and glaring at Gryffin as if he expected her to do something. The demon turned its attention to Lumpy and crawled over to him.

"Daddy?" it asked again, sounding even more pitiful. It smiled at him and lifted up a tiny, pathetic-looking tail.

"Oh, for God's sake!" Gryffin suddenly exclaimed. "Why the Hell didn't you tell me it was an infant?!" Pop shrugged.

"Does it matter?" he asked. "It's a demon. You can kill a demon, right?"

"I can kill a demon just fine, but one thing I _can't_ kill is a child," she said coldly, folding her arms across her chest. "You want him dead, you kill him yourself." The demon turned to Gryffin and gave a squeal of delight.

"Mommy!" it squeaked, lifting its tentacles and asking to be picked up. She did so, and it nuzzled her affectionately.

_I must smell like another demon..._she thought. The demon squealed again, wrapping its tentacles around her neck. Lumpy shuddered.

"You might want this..." he said, holding a Bible out to her. The demon hissed, its beady white eyes glowing with hatred. Gryffin shook her head, handing the book back before the tiny creature damaged something, or someone, else.

"I don't think so, Lumpy," she said. "You keep it." Pop was glancing from the demon to Gryffin, his brown eyes wide with apprehension.

"What are you going to do with it?" he asked. "You actually aren't going to keep it, are you?" Gryffin looked down at the demon, which sighed and nestled against her shoulder like any other baby would.

"Yes," she said, and Pop and Lumpy both recoiled in disgust. "Oh, come on! He can't possibly survive on his own! Didn't you ever think that maybe he kept possessing your son because he's just a baby, too?" She was getting angry now. "Did the thought ever cross your mind that perhaps he only needed someone to take care of him, or were you too hung up on the fact that he has tentacles and a beak?!" Her eyes were turning blue, and she was on the verge of letting Eerie have full reign when Mime peered into the open door.

He beckoned towards Gryffin, then waved hello to Pop and Lumpy. Gryffin smiled and nodded at him, then turned back around to face the two of them, her eyes fading back to grey.

"I'm going," she said disdainfully. "And I think it would be in your best interest to keep your son away from dark places. Something _bad_ might happen." With that, she turned on her heel and strode out, carrying the cooing demon along. Mime was waiting for her, grinning, and Gryffin felt a fluttery, warm feeling start up in her chest, pushing the anger away.

"... ..... ...?" Mime cocked his head to one side when he saw the slimy creature nestled in Gryffin's arms. He pointed towards Pop's house, then at the demon, then at Gryffin.

"Yeah, I caught the little rascal," Gryffin said, tickling the demon on the chin of his beak. "I've decided to keep him. What do you think?" Mime laughed, nodding his approval. "I'll bet he's hungry. I should take him home and feed him...but I don't know what he'll eat. Wanna come over and give me a hand?" Mime nodded again, and Gryffin shifted the demon to one arm, scooping Mime up with the other before she spread her wings and flew off.

The two clung to her like a pair of baby bats, and Gryffin couldn't help but shiver as Mime buried his face in her neck, the tips of his antlers close to her eyes. She noticed, with a strange warm feeling, that they were covered with soft fuzz, as if the sun had kissed them and left that fuzz there.

_He's beautiful,_ she thought, and smiled.

.......................................................................................................................

They arrived back at Gryffin's house, the demon beginning to whimper with hunger. Mime let go of Gryffin, somewhat regretfully, and waited patiently as she did her best to untangle the demon's tentacles from his antlers.

"Do you like it?" she asked once she had succeeded, gesturing towards the house. Mime nodded, relieved that the demon had finally let go of him, though his antlers now bore a few scratches. Gryffin grabbed his arm and led him inside.

Mime looked around the pitch-black house, shivering slightly, then gestured towards the empty fireplace.

"Are you cold?" Gryffin asked, and he nodded. She glanced at the fireplace, drawing her power up. "_Burn,_" she commanded, and blue flames sprung up in the cold grate, bathing the entire house in warmth. She turned back to Mime. "Is that better, love?"

He nodded again, his eyes fixed on the blue fire, which was reflected eerily in his eyes. The demon's hungered whimpers rose to a wail, and he pointed one tentacle towards his open beak. Gryffin shushed him, making her way to the kitchen.

"Come on," she said to Mime. "I might need your help." Mime raised one eyebrow at her, but followed her into the kitchen anyways, his dark blue eyes fixed on her round little bottom. He couldn't help it. Her hips had a nice way of swaying when she walked, and the robe she liked to wear wasn't exactly unflattering, either...

A sharp bite from the demon brought him back to his senses.

"Hold him for a second," Gryffin was saying, taking a bowl down from a shelf. Mime was trying his best to keep the demon from getting tangled in his antlers again, to no avail; the tiny thing seemed bent on snapping one of its tentacles off by winding it around those bony appendages. Gryffin glanced at him, smiled, and held her hand over the bowl, marking a small line on her wrist with a piece of chalk.

".... .....?" Mime stared at her, one eyebrow raised, then his jaw dropped when she reached to pick up a small, wicked-looking knife. "...! ...!" He shook his head furiously, slapping her hand away from the knife, but Gryffin rolled her eyes.

"Oh, come off it," she said irritably. "Do you know a better way to feed a baby demon?" Mime shrugged and shook his head again, looking uneasy. Gryffin's voice softened slightly. "It won't hurt me, if that's what you're looking so pale about. Besides, I can make it grow back." Mime nodded, turning away so he wouldn't have to see what was going to happen, and tried to distract himself by playing with the demon, which was now gnawing away at one antler like a dog with a bone.

Gryffin glanced at the two of them, smiled again, and swung the knife down. Just like Eerie, she couldn't help but watch in sick fascination as her hand fell off, blood pouring out of the stump of her wrist. The pain was almost blinding, but she held her breath and focused her energy into her bleeding arm, sighing with relief as the pain slowly faded into a dull, throbbing ache. She congratulated herself on not making a sound, then healed the wound and regrew her hand. She was surprised to find that she was panting from the effort of not going into shock.

"That was..........easy," Gryffin said slowly, slightly appalled at the sight of her hand, small and white, laying in the bowl full of blood.

Mime was staring at her with a sickened look on his face, but the demon let out a hungry squeal and wriggled out of his arms, crawling circles around Gryffin and nipping at the hem of her robe with impatience. She smiled at him and set the bowl on the floor, and he began to devour her hand, slinging blood and bits of bone and flesh all over the floor. Gryffin daintily stepped around him and went back into the living room, Mime following.

"So..." Gryffin said awkwardly as she and Mime sat down on the old, dusty couch. "...Have you heard from Flippy? I haven't seen him since last night."

"... .......?"

"He and I fought last night. Well...Evil Flippy and a demon named Eerie did, anyways."

".....?!? ... ...?" Gryffin couldn't help but laugh; Mime was gesturing wildly, asking a thousand different questions at once.

"Eerie is...well...a close friend..." Gryffin said, not sure of how to word it, then stiffened when Eerie decided it would be better if he heard it straight from her instead. Mime began to shiver, though not from the cold, when she focused her insane blue eyes on him, a coy smile on her lips.

"I'll take over from here, girlie," she said darkly, chuckling at the look of horror on Mime's face. "As Gryffin said, I'm a close friend. Too close for comfort, as a matter of fact, but I needed a body, and this one has...talents. You understand, right?" Mime jumped up, backing up against a cold wall, remembering the last time he had seen someone give him the same demented stare. He could easily recall the vile taste of lighter fluid in his throat, then the sharp pierce of a blazing arrow. After that, there was only fire.

Eerie stood up and slowly made her way over to him, grinning.

"My my..." she said, laughing. "Don't you look just like a deer in the headlights? I'm guessing you've met my friend, Evil Flippy, correct?" Mime shook like a leaf, but managed to nod. "Good. I was planning on visiting him tonight. Maybe I could bring him dinner..." She unsheathed her claws and moved closer. "...I'll bet he just loves the taste of venison."

"MOM-MY!" The demon gave a gurgling scream from the other room, and Eerie sighed.

"Such a stupid little creature," she snapped, glancing in the direction of the kitchen. "I'd better give him his 'mommy' back, or he won't shut up all night." She turned back to Mime, snarling with irritation at having to give up her prey. "Don't think I'm finished with you, you ignorant little mute." With a last venomous glare at the frightened deer, she gave Gryffin control again. The demon's shouts rose to a wail, and Gryffin, who was about to ask Mime why he looked so terrified, ran to the kitchen.

"OH, GODS!" she screamed, making Mime dash in to see what was wrong. He winced when he saw the demon's tongue laying on the floor like a tiny scrap of raw meat, and the demon himself was thrashing about, smearing blue-black blood all over the kitchen floor. The hilt of the sharp little knife could be seen in his open beak, lodged in his throat. Mime watched as Gryffin tried her best to remove the knife, but the demon wouldn't hold still long enough for her to do it safely. He managed to slit his own throat wide open in the space of a few seconds and slumped over, writhing.

Gryffin knelt by the tiny demon's side, watching helplessly as his beady eyes glazed over, he let out a gurgling rasp, and then stopped moving and breathing altogether. Mime looked slightly sad for a brief moment, then a mischievous grin flashed across his round face and he signed something to Gryffin.

"..... .... ......."

"What the fuck?!" she snapped. "I am _not _a worse parent than Pop! I at least _know_ when my child is hurt!" Mime burst into silent laughter, then stooped down and picked the little lifeless demon up, wiping the blood from his beak. The full meaning of what had just happened hit Gryffin with the force of a freight train and she began to cry helplessly, her only thought being that an infant was dead because of her carelessness. The laughter faded from Mime's lips almost instantly, and he sympathetically patted her shoulder, letting his hand linger for a moment too long.

He set the demon aside and helped Gryffin clean up, taking particular care to reach for rags and such at the exact moment she was, so that their hands might touch. In spite of the horrible truth that the baby demon was dead, Gryffin couldn't help but smile. She wondered if he knew how obvious he was acting.

When they had finished cleaning, Mime picked up the demon again and went into the living room, Gryffin following.

"Do you think he'll be okay?" she asked, almost pleadingly. "I mean, do you think he'll wake up?" Mime nodded, trying to look more confident than he felt.

".... ..... ... ........" he said, and Gryffin handed him a blanket, turning her light grey eyes away from the dead demon. Mime gently placed the blanket over him, wrapping the corpse up like it had merely closed its eyes for a nap. He couldn't resist giving the tiny creature a kiss on the top of the head before he turned back to Gryffin, who was facing the window with her hands clasped behind her back. Her wings were trembling, their tips brushing dust up from the floor.

Mime tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned to face him with tears in her eyes.

"What is it?" she asked, her lower lip quivering slightly, and Mime held his arms out.

".. ... ........?" he asked, and Gryffin sniffled and nodded. She let Mime give her a hug, her heart fluttering as he nuzzled the top of her head, his breath tickling her ears. He cupped one hand under her chin and lifted her head until she was looking him directly in the eyes. "... ...?"

"I'll be okay," she replied, wiping her eyes. "I'm just being silly." Mime smiled with relief and reached into his pocket, bringing out a handful of peanuts and offering one to her. She took it and delicately cracked it open while he managed to eat about seven whole. "Jeeze...you really like those things, don't you?" He nodded delightedly, offering her more, which she refused. He looked slightly dejected for a moment, then shrugged and gulped down the rest.

"... ..... ....? .. ... ..." Mime signed, making Gryffin glance towards the demon. She immediately felt a lump in her throat, so she blinked rapidly and quickly looked away.

"No...just leave him there," she said, and he nodded. "You know, we still have to name him..."

_Wait...you said 'we,'_ Mime thought with a warm feeling. Not 'I,' but 'we,' as if they were already a family of some kind. Suddenly, he remembered a name he had gotten from a movie, which was very fitting for a creature like the demon in the blanket. "...... ... .. ......"

"Pazuzu?" Gryffin repeated. "I've never heard that name. Did you just make it up?" Mime shook his head, and Gryffin thought for a moment. "It's a nice name...I think he'll like it, if he ever wakes up."

"..!" Mime signed, shaking his head. "... ... ... .." Gryffin couldn't help but smile.

"Okay, okay," she said. "_When_ he wakes up." Mime nodded and patted her on top of the head. He still had one arm around her waist, and he noticed that she wasn't in much of a hurry to make him let go. Gryffin sighed and leaned her head against Mime's chest, closing her eyes. He smelled like peanuts and hay, and she found herself breathing very slowly and deeply, trying to memorize his scent.

They stood like that for several minutes, just the two of them in the warm glow of the blue fire in the fireplace, and Mime was trying to decide if he should risk giving her a kiss, then imagined himself leaning in to kiss her and feeling the sharp sting of her hand against his cheek, and decided it would be best not to try. Instead, he closed his eyes and rested his head on top of hers, right between her ears, his nose crinkling slightly as she moved her wings and brushed her feathers across his face.

A knock on the door startled the two of them out of their comforting moment, and Gryffin took several steps back, her face very red.

"I'd better get that..." she mumbled, looking at the floor. Before she went to open the door, she quickly darted foreword and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, then scurried off. Mime put a hand to his burning face, then smiled and happily followed her down the hall.

Gryffin answered the door, feeling slightly flustered in the fading light.

"Who is it?' she asked, then her eyes narrowed slightly. "Oh, Flaky. What are you doing here?" The dandruff-laden porcupine shifted from one foot to the other, looking for the entire world like she wished to be someplace else.

"Er...Mime's in there, right?" she asked, then cowered as a butterfly crossed her path. Mime came up behind Gryffin, peering over her shoulder.

"He's right here, Flaky. What do you want?" Flaky took a deep breath and seemed to regain a little composure.

"Right...uhm...Lumpy said for you to come to rehearsals, Mime. He said he needed you because he put together a new act, and he needs someone to look after the elephants." She cringed at the stormy look on Mime's face. The little deer gritted his teeth, his normally cheerful smile replaced with an angry grimace. "I...I'm really sorry...I hope I wasn't, you know, interrupting anything..."

"It's okay," Gryffin said, putting one hand on Mime's shoulder. She stood up on her tip-toes and gave Mime a kiss on the cheek. "I'll just have to see you tomorrow, okay?" Mime nodded and gave Gryffin an especially tight hug, and Flaky didn't look quite as nervous as before.

"I guess I'll see you at the circus tent, Mime," she said, then, to Gryffin's surprise, turned smartly and skipped away. He sighed and reached into his pocket, bringing up more peanuts, then gave Gryffin one before downing the rest. She smiled.

"Have a good time, love," she said, looking up at him with stars in her eyes. "It must be _wonderful_ to be able to perform..." He smiled wearily, giving her one last squeeze before running to catch up with Flaky, who was now a considerable distance away. Gryffin watched him go, smiling dreamily, then turned to go back inside.

Eerie was standing there, blocking the way. The demon grabbed Gryffin's arm and turned her roughly around.

"Change of plans, girlie. We're going to pay Flippy a nice, little visit."

_______________________________________________________

**Uh-oh. This could be...bad. Eerie sounds like she's up to something...**

**And yes, the demon's name is Pazuzu! Very fitting, don't you think? (^_^) I just figured that the demon from 'Read 'em and Weep' needed some coddling. Besides, who doesn't love a cute little baby that can rip your face off? Heck, I'd adopt one!**

**Sorry for the lame-o-ness of the last two chapters. Like I said, there's shit going on.**

**Oh, and by the way, **_**in my fic**_**, Flaky is FEMALE. I got Season 1 of the HTF T.V. episodes on DVD, and the woman who does the voice acting for Flaky said that, in her opinion, Flaky is a girl. That's good enough for me! (...Not to say that it's set in stone or anything. Just voicing my own thoughts...)**

**Next chapter could be around soon, but I might not get anywhere near the Internet for a few weeks, but don't worry. I won't forget about you all. ( 'You all' consisting of perhaps three people. ^_^)**

**Cheers!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Let's see...where were we? Oh, yes...To set the mood, the night is young, the demon is dead, and one little deer is sick of being pushed around.**

**I think this is an opportune time to introduce the one, the only, the Chaos Zero! If you have never played Sonic Adventure, Chaos Zero is tied in with the Chaos Emeralds, or Kryptonut. We already know that Mime has an Emerald of his own, so let's see what happens, shall we?**

**________________________________________________________**

Gryffin let out an irritated huff and slammed Eerie back into her mind.

"I'm not in the mood, okay?" she snapped, turning to go back inside, but Eerie was blocking the way, her hands on her hips.

"Oh, come off it!" she said, tweaking Gryffin's nose. "I want to have some fun, for a change. Besides, I had to put up with that deer of yours, so now it's my turn." Gryffin sighed, glancing longingly at the front door.

"Will you make this quick?" she asked, and Eerie laughed.

"Maybe. Now come on!" The demonic cat grabbed her hand and together they took off, heading towards Flippy's house.

"So, why the sudden urge to go see Flippy?" Gryffin asked, wondering why Eerie had such a gleam in her eyes. She shrugged, grinning.

"Call it demon intuition, but I get the feeling that our presence would be gratefully accepted," she said brightly. "And anyways, it'll take your mind off the dead little slime ball in there." Before Gryffin had time to argue, Eerie pulled her through Flippy's front door, and the two of them stood in the hallway.

"Well...where is he?" Gryffin asked, and Eerie walked over to a door.

"Right here," she said, wrenching it open and pulling Gryffin through. She saw Evil Flippy facing an overturned table with a stapler in his hand. He whipped around and grinned when he saw the two cats.

"How about this, Goody-Goody?" he asked, turning momentarily to face the desk. "You could get your ass out here, or the little girls get it. Your choice." He shot some staples at Eerie, but she knocked them aside and pounced on him, slamming him to the floor and taking the stapler away.

"Where's Flippy?" she asked in a stern tone. Evil Flippy snarled at her, wriggling to get away.

"The coward's hiding behind the desk, you bitch," he spat, and Eerie back-handed him in reply. Gryffin began to giggle, covering her mouth with her hands. Evil Flippy noticed and glared at her, his cheek stinging. "What the fuck are you laughing at, woman?!" Gryffin only began to laugh harder, amused at the enraged look on Evil Flippy's face. Eerie bit back a smile.

"Flippy, would you come out here, please?" she called, and Flippy cautiously peered out from behind the overturned desk.

"What is it?" he asked. "I'm not in the mood to get my ass hacked to death, you know." Gryffin noticed that he, too, was carrying a stapler. Eerie sighed and rolled her eyes.

"What were you two fighting about?" she asked, and Evil Flippy made a face.

"_I_ just wanted to stretch my legs and have a little fun, but he said--"

"I did not! You did!"

"I deny it!"

"You deny it?! But I _heard_ you!" The two bears where snarling at each other, so Gryffin planted herself in between them.

"Alright, listen up! It doesn't matter who said what, okay?" She grabbed Flippy's arm, noticing that he was inching towards a sharp, shiny letter opener. "The point is, you two are acting like a couple of little kids." Evil Flippy suddenly wrenched his arm out of Eerie's hand and flung his Bowie knife at Flippy.

He managed to duck in time, taking out his own Bowie knife and darting at his wicked counterpart. Gryffin grabbed Flippy by the shoulders and pinned him to the wall, while Eerie grabbed onto of both of Evil Flippy's wrists and held him down.

"OKAY!" Gryffin shouted, feeling a headache start up. "You!" She pointed at Flippy. "Go to the living room, now!"

"But..."

"I said NOW!" He walked out with his hands clenched into fists at his sides. Evil Flippy stuck his tongue out as Flippy passed him, and Flippy retaliated by aiming a kick at Evil Flippy's side. If either of the two cats noticed, they didn't say anything. Gryffin sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Alright, Evil Flippy. You're staying in here until Eerie says so, got that?" Evil Flippy, now that Flippy was out of the room, looked up at Eerie and grinned.

"She can stay, right?" he asked, leaning up to rest his head against her chest. Gryffin sighed again.

"Sure. Great. Whatever." She could see Flippy sitting down on the couch after downing a couple of aspirin and a glass of water, wondering if he would be willing to give her some for her headache. Evil Flippy was looking from Eerie to Gryffin, a sly look in his dark green eyes.

"On second thought..." he said slowly. "...Why don't you stay, too? We could have _lots_ of fun together..." Eerie growled and dug her fingernails into his wrists, while Gryffin suppressed a giggle.

"I'll pass," she said, biting back her smile. "I'm only into guys with class." With that, she walked out of Flippy's office and shut the door. Flippy sighed as she walked up to the couch.

"Go on, take a seat," he said, his eyes fixed on the T.V. She primly sat down, then put one hand to her pounding head. Flippy noticed, and his expression softened slightly. "I'm sorry about all that. We just piss each other off sometimes...you understand, right?" Gryffin nodded.

"Of course. Well, he's...eh...distracted now. I think it's safe to assume that he won't be bothering you for a while." She stood up and stretched. "I should probably go. I have, you know, a baby at home to get back to, so..." Flippy also stood up.

"Sure. I was going to bed anyways. Er...see you around, I guess." With that awkward note, they went their separate ways.

.........................................................................................................................

Mime kneeled on the floor of his bedroom, feeling around under his bed.

_That damn box..._ he thought with a sharp sting of excitement. _Where is it?!_ Finally, his fingertips brushed cold cardboard. _Yes! _He pulled it out and brushed the dust from his face and the front of his sweater. Lumpy, that idiot of a moose, had let him off practice early today, and Mime couldn't help but congratulate himself on using a can of fake vomit as an excuse. One look at the rank, slimy mess, and Lumpy had shooed Mime out of the circus tent.

"Nothing personal, Mike..."

_My name is Mime, dumb shit._

"...But I can't have you getting all my important performers sick." Lumpy smiled and patted him on the head, then turned and walked away. All Mime had to do was look pale and ill, and then he was on his way home.

Now, as he crouched on the floor with the Chaos Emerald in his lap, he couldn't help but wonder how to harness the gem's power. He knew it could make Splendid violently sick, but what he had in mind didn't call for getting rid of the bumbling hero. He thought for a minute, lightly running one finger down the Chaos Emerald's facets.

For a brief moment, he thought he heard cruel laughter somewhere outside, but when he actually listened, he could hear nothing. The gem glowed softly, its green pulsating light casting an eerie glow onto Mime's white face. He thought of what he planned to do, and his heart gave a jolt. No more would Lumpy push him out of the spotlight and tell him he wasn't good enough. No more would he have to stand by and let others take center stage. That stupid moose would _have_ to recognize his talents with the power of the Chaos Emerald on his side.

As Mime sat there, thinking his bitter thoughts, something dark stirred inside of his normally cheerful heart. A twisted, evil feeling bubbled its way forth, terrifying and elating. It gave him a slight thrill to know that what he was doing could be considered 'bad,' but then, he reasoned, Gryffin also had these powers, didn't she? After all, she practically gave him the gem. Perhaps she wanted him to use it.

He took a deep breath and grabbed onto the stem of the acorn-shaped gem. With a quiet _snap_, he broke it off, then took a short piece of sting from his pocket. He deftly tied it around the shard of emerald, then slipped the string over his head. In an instant, the dark thing in his chest snapped and clawed its way to the surface, and he snapped his head back in a silent scream of agony. It felt so evil, and yet...he could feel himself growing powerful, more in control.

When the pain ebbed, he sat up and looked around. The broken bit of gem glowed calmly on Mime's necklace, as if nothing had happened. His heart hammering with excitement, he lifted his hand and swept it to one side. The cardboard box rose up a foot and flew five feet to the left, and Mime shot to his feet.

He pounded one fist in the air in victory, then thought for a moment. If Gryffin could only see his amazing talents, she might be impressed enough to say yes to being his girlfriend...but why stop there? He suddenly could see himself as the star of the circus, with Lumpy paying him top dollar to perform for crowds that numbered in thousands. He could see Gryffin in the front row, starry-eyed, watching him carry out death-defying stunts, then coming to him after the show and professing her deep affections for him...

He stood there for a moment, sighing happily, then walked out of his tent, deciding it wouldn't hurt to find Gryffin and tell her how he really felt.

.........................................................................................................................

Gryffin sat down on the dusty chair in her living room, cradling Pazuzu. She had come home to find that the tiny demon hadn't moved, but she couldn't resist holding the creature, humming to him as if he was merely taking a nap. She was feeling very tired herself, and was thinking that maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to go to sleep, but a sound in the kitchen made her head snap up and her grey eyes widen. The whispered voices she could hear, along with the complete darkness of her house, almost frightened her, but she made up her mind to confront them anyways.

She slowly got to her feet, setting Pazuzu aside. He moved slightly and whimpered, but it went unnoticed to the tiny cat. She was fully focused on whoever was bumbling around in her kitchen. Moving silently, she crossed the room and opened the kitchen door, then saw two similar forms on the other side. They were setting bulging backpacks on the table, taking things out and hiding them in cabinets. Gryffin didn't stop to wonder who it was; the smell of raccoon was unmistakable.

She launched herself onto one of the figures, letting out a blood-curdling yowl that made Lifty and Shifty scream. Lifty quickly flicked on a light, and Gryffin could see that the one she had grabbed was Shifty, who was struggling to get her hands out from around his throat. Lifty yelped and picked up a heavy pan, smacking Gryffin on the side of the head with it. She fell to the floor, a scream of pain wrenching its way from her lips, as Shifty got up and grabbed the same tiny knife that had killed Pazuzu earlier. He glanced at his twin and they both laughed.

"Looks like the crazy bitch isn't so tough now, is she?" Lifty asked, sticking his tongue out at Gryffin. She jumped up, ignoring the blood pouring from the side of her head, and backhanded Lifty so hard that he went sprawling onto the floor. Shifty shot a few more insults at her, advancing on her with the knife, but an odd sound from the kitchen door made all three of them turn and look.

Gryffin let out an excited squeal when she saw what it was; Pazuzu had woken up at last. His beady white eyes shone balefully as he stared at the two raccoons, his sharp little beak snapping open and shut with hungry cries.

"What the-?" Shifty asked. "Why you got an octopus, bitch?" Pazuzu reared up slightly, as if he had understood the insult, then flung himself onto Shifty, digging his beak into one of the helpless raccoon's eyes. Lifty and Shifty both screamed, and Shifty tried to bat Pazuzu away, but the demon held on with unnatural strength and bit harder, ripping and tearing into Shifty's skull. Lifty turned and fled the house, screaming like a banshee, as the tiny demon squirmed into Shifty's eye socket and began to eat into his brain.

He let out a pained gurgle and fell to the floor, writhing, while Gryffin crossed her arms across her chest and watched the demon eat. It wasn't exactly a pretty sight; Pazuzu slung bits of Shifty everywhere, along with massive amounts of demon saliva. When he was done eating Shifty's head from the inside out, he let out a wet belch and crawled back into the living room, leaving a mangled Shifty on the kitchen floor. Gryffin looked around at the mess and sighed.

"It's so good to have you back, Pazuzu," she said wearily, then went to work cleaning up the fantastic mess he had made. Shifty's headless body was thrown into the stream, and the blood, slime, and saliva was cleaned up via Chaos power. When everything was back to normal, Gryffin sighed again, then sat down at the kitchen table and slumped over, putting her head in her hands. The headache had grown worse, sending jolts of pain into her neck and shoulders that almost made her dizzy.

While she was sitting there, trying to ignore it, she glanced out of the kitchen window and noticed Mime outside, waving to her. She smiled and stood up, then walked to the door and let him in. As soon as he was inside, he tackled her with a hug and lifted her off her feet, making her head snap back. She winced, and Mime noticed.

"... .....?" he signed, and she groaned softly.

"I feel like someone's taken a drill press to my forehead," she said, putting of hand on the back of a chair to steady herself. Mime stared sympathetically at her, then grinned and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a balloon and blew it up before deftly twisting it into a tiny cat, then offered it to Gryffin with a shy smile. She took it and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You're so sweet, Mime." He held up one hand, signaling for her to wait, then gently tapped the balloon cat on the head.

It sat completely still for a moment, then sat back on its haunches and scratched at one ear. Gryffin gasped, dropping the balloon and taking a few steps back, much to Mime's surprise.

"M-Mime?" she asked, her grey eyes wide with shock. "How did you do that?" Mime cringed inside; far from looking impressed, Gryffin looked downright terrified. She cleared her throat and managed to remove most of the quivering from her voice. "How did you do that?" she asked again. Mime shrugged, deciding it wouldn't be a good idea to tell her about the Chaos Emerald.

"... ....... ...... ..."

"What do you mean, you just know how to?" she asked. "You can't be a natural-born Mage, can you?" Mime shrugged again, and Gryffin groaned and grabbed her head. "No wonder I feel so shitty...you must have Chaos in you somewhere to control its power...but why is it hurting me like this?!" Mime shrugged yet again, provoking an annoyed look from Gryffin. "You could be a little less neutral, you know." He gave her an innocent grin.

".. ..... .... ....?"

"I'll be fine," she said, rubbing her head. "I just need something to make the pain go away so I can think again, that's all." Mime cocked his head to the side, then reached out and grabbed her hand, calling on the power of Chaos. He gently pressed the hand to his lips, and she gave a sigh of relief as the pain melted away.

"... .....?"

"Much better..." Gryffin replied, shutting her eyes and feeling her neck and shoulders relax. Mime grinned; the little cat looked like she was in a swoon, standing there with her eyes shut and one hand on her chest. Suddenly, her knees folded up and she crumpled to the floor, her wings spread wide open like the wings of a dead bird.

Mime stood for a moment with his hand clapped to his mouth, then knelt down and took a closer look at her. She was breathing slowly and evenly, and he thought he heard a faint snore.

_I think I overdid it..._ he thought, slapping his hand to his forehead in disgust. With a sigh, he used his new-found power to lift her onto the couch, managing to fit himself there as well. He snuggled her closely, his arm flung around her waist, and her head resting on his chest. He felt so happy there, holding Gryffin tight while her wings made a blanket over them both, and he sighed and gave her a soft kiss, closing his eyes. Before he knew it, Mime was fast asleep, blissfully unaware that Chaos Zero was already working his twisted magic on the sweet deer's heart...

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**Awww, how cute! I'm so glad they get along so well...it just brings out the warm fuzzes, you know?**

**However, I am slightly worried about Mime's hunger for power. This can only end in fire.**

**Next chapter is coming soon! However, I have no means of getting it online, which means another long wait for you, my friends. Please don't think I'm blowing you off for something else...I promise I won't let you down!**

**...Just another thing...can you believe we're on chapter ten already?! There isn't some sort of limit to how many chapters I can have, is there?! Oh no...what if I get in trouble for 'chapter overload?!' WAAAAAH! *curls up under computer desk* Until we meet again, I think I'll stay here, where can't yell at me or promise me cake. **

**You hear that, you blasted computer? I've had enough of your lies! (Portal reference. If you don't get it, don't worry.)**

**Cheers!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Welcome, one and all! It's time for yet another chapter of this (hopefully) entertaining tale about an alien, an emerald, a deer, and a few dozen other random peoples that no one cares about.**

**Yeah. That's it. No one likes Flippy or Disco Bear at all. Sure.**

**Anyhoo, there's nothing to say. I hope you like it!**

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The next day, after Gryffin and Mime had woken up, eaten breakfast, and scolded Pazuzu for hiding a dead bird in a cereal box, Mime decided to take Gryffin to work with him for the day. They went together to the circus in the southern side of the forest, Gryffin dizzy with excitement.

"This is so cool, Mime!" she exclaimed, skipping circles around him. He watched her with amusement, resisting the urge to scoop up her tiny frame. "I've never even seen a circus before! Do you honestly work there?" He nodded. "What do you do?"

Mime blushed, thinking of how all he was allowed to do was clean and watch from the sidelines as others performed. He was spared the embarrassment of answering, however, when the giant tent loomed over the horizon and Gryffin let out an excited squeak, grabbing his hand (his heart gave a jolt) and pulling him along.

"Come on!"

They ran for the rest of the way, Gryffin using her wings to skim along the ground so she could keep up with Mime's long strides.

They stumbled through the back door of the tent, both out of breath, and Gryffin giggled nervously as she and Mime fell over in a heap.

"Ouch..."

"....."

"It's okay."

"Hey, you two!" Lumpy was stalking over, his arm raised and his hand clenched around a whip. Mime noticed that Gryffin had stiffened slightly, her feathers ruffling, and he placed a hand on her shoulder. It wasn't as if the moose really was going to strike them with the whip he held.

Lumpy narrowed his dim eyes at the winged cat, then turned to Mime. "You know you can't bring your friends back here, Mike." Mime rolled his eyes, then got a sudden idea. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a flyer, waving it around and pointed excitedly to Gryffin.

"...! ... ... ...!"

"She wants to try out, huh?'

"Wait, what?"

"I guess she can give it a shot. I'll see you in the smaller tent, in ten minutes. Until then, you need to clean this place up a little." He walked away, leaving Mime looking irritated and Gryffin with her jaw hanging open.

"What the _Hell_ was that?" she asked, whirling around to face Mime. "I didn't want to try out, I just wanted to watch you perform, you silly thing!" He grinned and shrugged innocently, and Gryffin gave an exasperated sigh. "What am I even supposed to do?! I don't have any performing skills!"

Mime shrugged, then smiled brightly. He took a balloon out of his pocket and blew it up, twisting it into a dog, and then showed it to her.

"My Chaos? How can that..." She grinned as an idea struck her. "...I've got it. My Chaos powers can help me! Mime, you're brilliant!" She hugged him quite violently, squeezing him tightly until she almost succeeded in lifted him off the ground. He shuddered almost imperceptibly, tiny thrills racing down his spine, and his face became warm.

He let her hug him for a moment too long, then squeezed her and grabbed her hand, leading her to the costume tent where they could talk about the act she was about to put on.

........................................................................................................................

Ten minutes later saw Gryffin in one of the tents, standing on front of a glass tank filled to the brim with water. She was wearing a sparkling black leotard that Mime had found for her, and had her eyes squeezed shut in concentration. Flaky and Cuddles stood nearby, Flaky ready with a sheet, and Cuddles ready with a pair of handcuffs and a heavy padlock.

"Alright, Gretchen, let's make this quick," Lumpy said, looking bored. He was sitting behind a table with his feet up, not even looking at the winged cat. "I've got my ducks to feed so..."

"My name is Gryffin, you dimwit, and I'm about to show you something that isn't possible." She spoke in a low, dark voice that carried all the way to the back, where Mime was, and the lights were turned down low, with a single spotlight trained on her. Slightly suspenseful music played from a soundtrack they had found, making the atmosphere perfect for what was to come. Gryffin stepped to the side, gesturing towards the tank. "I'm going to allow myself to be handcuffed and locked inside this tank. I can survive underwater for about a minute before I'll drown, and I want you to be sure to time me, okay?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever..." Lumpy mumbled, shutting his eyes. Gryffin ignored him and let Cuddles place the handcuffs around her wrists. He roughly jerked them around to make sure they were locked, then nodded his approval. Gryffin pretended to struggle slightly as he forced her into the tiny tank, then slammed the lid shut and padlocked it. Flaky draped the sheet over the tank and started the timer, which slowly clicked its way down.

Mime and the others waited anxiously, their eyes focused completely on the sheet. Mime had begun to squirm in his seat, but just as he was about to get up to check on her, the sheet was thrown off by a soaked and grinning Gryffin, her feathers limp and bedraggled from being squashed inside the tank. Mime, Cuddles, and Flaky clapped their approval, but she held up one finger, signaling for them all to wait.

She flung the sheet back over the tank and whipped it away to reveal Shifty, handcuffed and thrashing about in the water. Lumpy shot to his feet, impressed against his will.

"How the-?" he asked as Gryffin helped Shifty out of the tank. He was choking and gasping for breath, completely confused.

"What the Hell, bitch?!" he screamed as soon as he had gotten his breath. "What the Hell did you do to me?!" Gryffin didn't answer his question, but she smiled sweetly and placed his fedora back on his head.

"This next trick," she said, throwing him to the ground, "Will require the help of one of my friends. Mime, could you be so kind as to make this raccoon...disappear...for me?" Mime sat where he was for a brief instant, then jumped up and made his way to the front. Shifty was lying where she had thrown him, muttering curses under his breath, which Gryffin chose to ignore.

Mime finally got to center stage, and Gryffin gripped the sheet firmly.

"I'll throw it over him on the count of three, okay?" she asked, and Mime nodded. "I'll need you get rid of him. 'Kay...here we go..." Gryffin counted to three and flung the sheet over Shifty, and Mime silently shouted a command. There was a brilliant flash of light, and Gryffin snatched the sheet away to reveal that Shifty was indeed gone.

That was far too much for Lumpy. He clapped enthusiastically, and Gryffin and Mime bowed together, both grinning.

"You're hired, Gryffin!" the moose exclaimed, then turned his attention to Mime. "And you, Mike-"

"His name is Mime."

"...Whatever. How come you didn't show me you had this much talent? You need to be performing, not cleaning animal pens!" Mime turned to Gryffin, his jaw dropped and his eyes wide.

"....!"

"I know! It's great!" She gave him an especially tight hug, then kissed his cheek and helped him put away the equipment.

...................................................................................

A while later, they were both in the costume tent, Mime (in a very embarrassed way) keeping his back turned while she got dressed again.

"I can't believe I got a job here, Mime!" she said for the umpteenth time that day. "Um...you can turn around now." He did so, and the little cat sighed and fanned her warm face with the tip of one of her wings. "It's all so sudden...I don't know if I can stand much more of this..."

".. ... .....?" Mime had a mischievous grin on his face.

"What do you mean, just one more surprise?" She locked her eyes onto his, then reached up and touched one of the triangle-shaped markings on his forehead. Her touch made him feel dizzy, and he realized, with a sudden rush of thrill, that they were completely alone. The Chaos Emerald told him that now was the time to let it out.

"......." he signed nervously, not sure of how to continue. "... .. ..... ..?"

"Of course I like you, silly. We're friends, aren't we?" Mime sighed, giving her a slightly amused look.

".. . .... .. .. ..... ... ...?" Gryffin realized what he was really asking, and her face turned red.

"Oh...you mean..."

"..." He took one of her hands, his heart hammering furiously in his ears. "... .... .... .... .....?"

"Your...girlfriend..." Gryffin felt dizzy and confused. She had wanted this to happen ever since she met him, but now that it was happening...what was she supposed to say? "...Y-yes?" Mime stared at her for a moment, then grinned as his cheeks went warm.

".....?"

"Really. I just said yes, you idiot!" With a happy sigh, she squeezed him in a hug, which he returned with such force that he lifted her off her feet. Suddenly, without realizing what he was doing, he was kissing her, one hand on her hip and the other buried deep in her downy feathers.

Mime was dizzy and trembling with fear and excitement. She stood on her tip-toes and pressed her body to his, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, and neither of them could breathe without gasping.

"Hey, Mime! I need you to...whoa." The cat and deer both jumped and whipped around to face Disco Bear, looking surprised and amused all at once. "Eh...bad time?"

"Hi, Disco." Gryffin hoped her face wasn't as red as it felt. "How's it going?" The golden bear grinned, crossing his arms and tapping one foot.

"You tell me, babe. Look's like things are goin' pretty good." He glanced back and winced. "Alright, not to get down on you two, but now just ain't the best time. Lumpy's ducks are on the loose, and they've eaten Handy, _again._" With a silent groan, Mime slapped his hand to his forehead, but Gryffin was confused.

"What do you mean, eaten?"

"It's a long story, babe."

.....................................................................................

Gryffin went home bone-tired that night, Mime following and looking just as weary. Ominous quacks still met their ears, but they no longer paid any attention.

"I've never seen carnivorous ducks before," Gryffin said, stretching. Her spine popped, and she winced. "Did you see the way they ate Lumpy's eyes?" Mime nodded, nursing a sprained wrist, one of his antlers cracked and his face scratched and bruised. Gryffin wasn't any better off. Most of her feathers had been plucked out, and she had one hand clasped over her left eye, which was still bleeding.

".. ..... .."

"I thought so. Flesh-eating ducks in a cage that does _nothing_. Ugh..."

".. ..... ..... .... .... ........"

"Great. Stop the prey from escaping, but let the ducks run amok." They made it back to her house, both of them collapsing in separate armchairs. Pazuzu woke with a start and gave a squeal of delight.

"Mommy! Daddy!" He crawled over to Gryffin and hoisted himself up into her lap.

"Hello, Paz." She lovingly patted the top of his head, and he chirruped happily. He then choked in the back of his throat, arched his neck, and spat an anteater's skull into her lap.

"Mommy! Present for Mommy!" Mime took a long, hard look at the skull and burst into silent laughter, despite the intense pain in his arm. Gryffin smiled, trying not to show the disgust that was making her stomach churn.

"Oh how...lovely. You know what?"

"What?"

"Why don't you take that nice skull and bury it outside. It might grow a...er...skull tree for you!" She felt a little bad about tricking Pazuzu, but she honestly didn't want any more body parts in her house. The demon's eyes widened in wonder as he imagined a tree that grew bones like apples. He looped one tentacle through the empty eye sockets of the skull and skipped merrily out the door.

"Skull tree for Mommy! Pazuzu will plant skull right now!"

"Atta boy," Gryffin said once he had closed the door behind him. She turned to Mime, who was looking drowsy. "You want anything to eat?" He shook his head, then grinned and gestured for her to come closer. She stood and walked over to him, and he grabbed her hands and pulled her down until she was nestled snugly in his lap.

"......."

"Don't tease." She kissed his cheek, and he moved so that her lips met his. "Mmmmmph." She grinned and sat back a little. "You sneak!"

"..... ....." Mime grinned too and sighed happily as Gryffin leaned her head against his chest, closing her eyes. "... ......."

"I know, love. I don't see how Lumpy could just hire me like that, but...it's not so bad." She giggled. "Performing is kind of fun, you know?" Mime nodded, his eyes still closed. "Are you sleepy?" He nodded again, and Gryffin got up and helped him to his feet. "You know, my bedroom is right down the hall..."

"......?" Mime smiled, his eyes full of mischief, and she shrugged.

"I don't see anything wrong with it..." she said, taking one of his hands. "...I mean, I'll be right there in case you can't sleep." His heart skipped more than a couple beats, and she winked and led him down the hall.

"MOMMY!" Pazuzu burst in the front door, caked in mud, as Gryffin's bedroom door closed. "I BURIED SKULL!"

"Great, love!" Gryffin called back, making Mime laugh. "Now go to sleep!" The demon stared for a few moments at Gryffin's closed door, then shrugged and curled up in a chair, closing his eyes.

...................................................................................................

**(O//O) I totally didn't give her permission to do that....**

**Gryffin: (^_^) I didn't need your permission.**

**Bad kitty.**

**Don't get excited, you guys. It's only been a day, after all. I'm...pretty sure they're just...er.................studying. Chemistry. Something.**

**Well, the next chapter is where things really spin out of control. Remember what happened when Mime first started using the Emerald? Well, it's going to get bad. Really, really bad. This is a sci-fi story, after all.**

**Cheers!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Well all, this is where it really hits the fan. There's not much to say, but you should brace yourselves for some serious trouble.**

**I might as well go ahead and explain that Flippy (both of him) and Eerie have become...oh, what's the phrase...'fuck-buddies.' However, if you were hoping for more graphic action between those two, I should go ahead and apologize. This story is about Gryffin and Mime, and Eerie's kind of a side-character. I have written a good one-shot about Flippy, but I'm going to post it when this story is over with.**

**Oh, and feel free to leave a review. I highly appreciate everything you have to say about my work, so go on and have fun with your feedback. (^_^)**

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Mime lay in bed, his eyes shut as he listened to the steady beating of the tiny heart of the Chaos Emerald. It had been months since he had made Gryffin his, gotten the job he had always wanted, and just made his everyday life much easier...but...he just wasn't satisfied. There was something nagging in the back of his mind, something he couldn't shake off.

Everything seemed fine. He performed with Gryffin onstage every day, and her bright, sweet smile cheered him up more than anything else. After the show, she would always give one of his hands a squeeze and compliment him on his wonderful skills, her eyes shining with love and adoration. When they thought no one was looking, she would sneak naughty little kisses to him, teasing him in ways that made his knees go weak and his head become floaty. Still, things weren't as good as they could be.

_You want power?_ A small, soft voice whispered like dry grain husks across the floor of the room. _You want more, that much is certain. I can help._

_What the-?!_ Mime let out a silent yelp and leapt off his bed. Over the past days, an eerie calm had settled over the forest...no one had been killed for days...but while the others seemed to enjoy the rare moment of peace, it made Mime uneasy.

_I won't hurt you, little Mage,_ the voice said. _I want to help you. You are unsatisfied with what you have, aren't you?_

_Who are you?_ As usual, he didn't speak out loud, but the Emerald responded anyways.

_I am merely Chaos Zero, the protector of the Chaos Emeralds. How you came about one of my gems is unimportant, however...I can not let you continue using my power for things so small._

_Why? _Mime didn't quite trust this voice, but it continued quietly as if it hadn't been interrupted.

_You have all you could possibly want on this world, but nothing satisfies you. The woman of your dreams dotes on you, but her beauty fades fast and her adoration tires you. You're in the spotlight where you belong, but the applause you gain sounds hollow and weak. Even your favorite foods no longer appeal to you! You need to move on to better things._ Mime knew it seemed selfish and ungrateful, but he nodded.

_I'm so sick of living, Chaos Zero. I don't know what to do._

_I can help, but there's something you need to do for me._ It was here that Chaos Zero's voice became even softer and sadder, as if his heart had broken. _Gryffin, the creature that came here from Mobus, has stolen my powers. She draws off of the Chaos Emerald in her body, making me weak. _He sounded so sad that Mime felt a lump of pity welling up in his throat, and he immediately felt compelled to help in any way that he could. How could Gryffin be so cruel as to hurt such a kind person as Chaos Zero?

_What can I do? _he asked, drawing closer to the acorn-shaped gem that sat on his dresser. Chaos sighed.

_Gryffin may be your beloved, but she can't be trusted, little Mage, and she needs to be destroyed. Surely you feel that in your heart? _As soon as he said it, Mime felt a small spot of doubt latch onto his mind, whispering things about Gryffin that he should have recognized as lies, but instead listened to as if they were words straight from her lips. She was weak in her powers, she didn't love him, she lied with everything she said...

_How do you know this? _he asked, feeling his eyes begin to burn with hot tears. Chaos clucked in a soothing way, like a mother would to an upset child.

_Because_ _she_ _harbors_ _a_ _demon_ _known_ _as_ _Eerie_. _Gryffin_ _wouldn't_ _allow_ _Eerie_ _to_ _be_ _around_ _if_ _it_ _weren't_ _for_ _that_ _demented_ _bear_, _that_ _Flippy_ _person_. _Eerie_ _lusts_ _after_ _him_ _like_ _a_ _butterfly_ _for_ _nectar_, _and_ _I_ _believe_ _her_ _lust_ _has_ _entered_ _Gryffin's_ _heart_ _as_ _well_. _They've_ _been_ _together_ _often_ _these_ _last_ _few_ _months._

_T-together?_ _But...but_ _Gryffin_ _said_ _she_ _loved_ _me...she_ _said_ _she_ _wouldn't_ _ever_ _settle_ _for_ _anyone_ _else..._

_Does_ _this_ _look_ _like_ _the_ _affection_ _she_ _promised_ _you_?! Mime's head snapped backwards as a blast of magic hit him full-force, creating a ghastly image that danced in front of his eyes and made him silently cry out with pain.

Eerie and Evil Flippy were in the process of slaughtering everyone in a local restaurant, and the darkness in the windows showed that it was late at night. They maimed all, sparing no one, drinking in the screams and wails of pain before they feasted on the blood and flesh of the innocent ones they had killed. Once they were satisfied, Evil Flippy turned to Eerie and pushed her roughly to the floor, growling in his throat as he ripped her robe from the body that Mime knew well. He mounted her, and the two let out demonic screams of pleasure as their bodies melded, sweat and blood dampening their fur while they proceeded to copulate in the gore of the murder they had caused.

Mime stared, transfixed, and the image faded. His throat stung, and it was only then he realized he had been screaming in fear, rage, and sadness, and his face was wet with tears.

_You_ _see_, _my_ _little_ _one_? _She_ _is_ _false_. _She_ _doesn't_ _love_ _you._

_I_ _don't_ _want_ _to_ _see_ _anymore_. _P-please_..._just_ _go_ _away_! He lashed out and knocked the gem off of his dresser, and it fell to the floor with a soft clatter.

_Please_, _child_, _I_ _am_ _not_ _your_ _enemy_! _I_ _wish_ _to_ _help_ _you_, _that's_ _all. _Mime turned away, his shoulders shaking with rough sobs. A soft breeze brushed against his cheek like a gentle hand, and Chaos Zero's soft voice settled in his chest, numbing the pain. _Come_ _to_ _Mobus_ _and_ _learn_ _more_ _of_ _magic_ _with_ _me_. _I_ _will_ _make_ _you_ _a_ _mighty_ _ruler_, _and_ _you_ _can_ _have_ _all_ _you_ _desire_. _You_ _will_ _be_ _happy_ _at_ _last_, _and_ _then_ _the_ _inhabitants_ _of_ _this_ _planet_ _shall_ _feel_ _your_ _wrath_. _Would_ _you_ _like_ _that? _The sadness melted away, replaced with a furious anger that burned wildly in his eyes, making his thoughts cloudy.

_I_ _want_ _them_ _all_ _to_ _suffer_. _Tell_ _me_ _what_ _I_ _have_ _to_ _do._

_First_ _thing_ _tomorrow,_ _get_ _rid_ _of_ _Gryffin._ _Do_ _something_ _to_ _hurt_ _her_ _worse_ _than_ _she_ _has_ _hurt_ _you,_ _and_ _then_ _come_ _back_ _here_ _so_ _I_ _can_ _bring_ _you_ _to_ _me._ _Then_ _we_ _shall_ _train,_ _and_ _Happy_ _Tree_ _and_ _Mobus_ _will_ _be_ _ours_ _completely! _Mime felt the twisted, wicked feeling that had been laying dormant for so long rise inside of him, and he let out a silent, insane howl of laughter.

_This is evil, _he thought, and the thought gave him a thrill he hadn't felt in months. Chaos Zero gently told him to rest, so that he might have full advantage of his power, and Mime obediently went to bed, the same thoughts echoing in his confused mind.

_I_ _am_ _Evil._ _I_ _am_ _Evil._ _I_ _am_ _EVIL..._

...............................................................................................................................................................................................

The next day, Gryffin awoke as she usually did, caked with blood from a murder she hadn't committed.

"Eerie, can't you give it a rest for one night?" she asked, getting up and heading for the shower. Eerie smiled wickedly, her throat covered in bruises.

"Can't _you_ quit complaining? Flippy asked me on a date last night, and I couldn't say no to that adorable face of his." Her bright blue eyes took on a dreamy cast. "He's so wonderful."

"Oh, gag me." Gryffin stepped into the hot shower, doing her best to rinse the blood off her body. "Evil Flippy doesn't strike me as 'wonderful.' He's about as wonderful as a bulldog with a bad case of seasickness." Eerie gave her a blank look.

"I was talking about Flippy. You know, chocolate-chip loving, tea-drinking cutesy Flippy...but...I guess Evil Flippy's okay too." She giggled, her blue eyes alight with mischief. "He knows how to have fun, anyways."

"Spare me the details, please. I'm going to the movies with Mime later, so no stupid shit, okay?"

"Stupid shit?" Eerie bristled with mock anger, a playful smile on her lips. "Old cow, what I do is an _art_. It's _poetry_ in blood, and only the most _sensible_ and _intelligent_ people can appreciate such a fine skill." Gryffin splashed water in Eerie's face, making her shriek.

"Quiet, you." She got out and dried herself off, sighing happily as she thought of spending yet another day with Mime. Ever since that interesting day at the circus, things had gotten better and better as their relationship progressed, though she still restrained herself from actually having sex with him. They had both decided that they would wait for just a little while longer, until the moment was perfect...and Gryffin, to her surprise, found herself wishing that the perfect moment would come sooner rather than later.

Gryffin met Mime outside the movie theatre, in silent conversation with Flippy.

"Are you kidding me? Ninjas always have the best weapons!" he was saying when she landed. "I mean, there's the throwing star, the nun chuck, the katana..." Here his expression became slightly dreamy. "...Kick ass, those things; I have one in my living room."

"And what a shame it is to hang such a pretty blade on the wall and never use it." Gryffin smiled and slipped her arm around Mime's waist. He stiffened slightly, surprised to find that he still went weak at her touch, and Flippy grinned.

"It's used often enough, believe me." His eyes flashed green for an instant, and hers flashed blue. Mime noticed and the excited, bubbly feeling went away, replaced with burning jealousy and anger.

The three of them went into the movie theatre together, Gryffin looking up, starry-eyed, at Mime, while Flippy followed behind. He was really hoping that Eerie would make an appearance, but Gryffin seemed fully in control, for now. Mime couldn't help but feel slightly uneasy, remembering what he had seen the night before, but that only made him all the more convinced that Gryffin needed to be taught a lesson. He smiled a fake smile at her as they went to their seats and sat down, their hands still intertwined.

".... ...."

"You feel funny? Like, 'funny' sick, or 'funny' telling-a-joke kind of funny?"

".... ......"

"Just funny, huh? Do you want to go home?" He shook his head rigorously as the lights dimmed, and Flippy gave a happy sigh.

"Ninjas, violence, and a decent storyline...what else could you want from a movie?" he asked, smiling and leaning back in his seat. Gryffin turned and grinned at him, while Mime bristled with anger. How much more was Flippy going to flirt with his girlfriend?

"..... ..." He almost roughly ripped his hand away from Gryffin's and stalked out, not looking back as she followed him out of the theatre and into the street.

"Mime? What's wrong, love?" she asked almost pleadingly, trying to catch up with him, but he made an inaudible growl and sped up. "Mime!" Gryffin spread her wings and skimmed alongside him, wondering how she made him so angry. "Please, tell me what's wrong!"

"... .... ...... ...!" He whipped around to face her, his dark blue eyes flashing with rage. ".....!"

"_What_?! I'm not cheating on you with anybody! Eerie's the one who keeps going after Flippy, not me!"

".... ......!"

"It's _not_ bull shit, Mime! I can't control what she does." Mime rolled his eyes and started walking again, swiping one of his hands to the side as he did so. A nearby car exploded, and little bits of Petunia splattered on the sidewalk. Gryffin hovered where she was for a moment, her mouth agape in shock, before flying after him.

".....!"

"No, I won't leave you alone! What the Hell makes you think I'd _lie_ to you, Mime?!"

".... .... .... ... ...... .... ......."

"But that was _Eerie_, not _me_!" She was almost crying with exasperation. "You know I love you, sweetie, but I can't get rid of her! My powers aren't strong enough."

_Yeah,_ _right,_ Mime thought bitterly, gritting his teeth. _You've_ _been_ _stealing_ _Chaos_ _Zero's_ _power_ _ever_ _since_ _you_ _got_ _here._

"Mime? Can we even talk about this?"

He glared at her for a moment, shook his head, and walked away. Gryffin remained where she was for a moment, then angrily flew after him. The resulting sonic boom destroyed a nearby building, but she paid no attention.

Mime glanced back once, then took off at a run. Gryffin followed him for a few minutes, but without warning he turned, a wicked snarl on his normally sweet face.

"............!" With a silent command, he shot a blast of magic straight at her, which she managed to dodge.

"What the-?!" she yelped as he attempted to curse her again. He missed and hit a nearby tree, which withered and died. "Mime, STOP IT!" She retaliated with a curse of her own, which grazed his cheek and left a painful-looking burn.

A look of wild rage flashed across his face and he let loose with a silent scream, releasing the full force of his magic. Gryffin screamed, feeling the foul power wash over her, scouring her skin and melting the flesh from her bones. She felt as if she was being consumed by fire from the inside out, but soon her screams faded.

Mime looked down at what was left of her; a singed skeleton with a twisted look of horror on its face. A sickened, disgusted feeling welled up inside of him, and he fell to his hands and knees and vomited.

_Oh God,_ he thought, shuddering and wiping his mouth on his sleeve. _What have I done?!_

_Hush, child,_ said Chaos Zero in his dry, whispering voice. _I know it's hard, but you've done the right thing. She needed to be taught a lesson._

_But...but..._

_Hush. Tonight, I'll bring you to Mobus, little Mage, and you can learn and conquer all you want._

_O-okay._

_Now, go to your house and get ready. You might want to go ahead and say your good-byes also, if there's anyone you can still call your friend._

_There's no one._ On that sad note, Mime shakily got to his feet and walked off in the direction of his house, doing his best to resist looking back at the corpse of the little cat he loved so dearly.

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**Poor Mime! He thinks Chaos Zero is the only friend he has in the world...*sigh* I wonder what's going to happen when Chaos shows his true colors. **

**Cheers!**


	13. Chapter 13

**And things go from bad to worse. :(**

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Gryffin woke up feeling sickened and dizzy, though she couldn't remember why at first. Then it all came back to her; Mime's cold expression, the curse that burned her alive, the way she had pleaded to him but to no avail... Her stomach lurched unpleasantly.

She stood and looked around, finding that night had already fallen. She stood there for a moment, not sure of what to do, but after a moment of thought she decided to try and talk to Mime just one more time. She couldn't very well just let it go after almost a year with him, and the thought of living without him made a lump well in her throat and her eyes burn.

Gryffin made it to Mime's house, praying that she would find him there, which she did. He seemed to be waiting for her, as if he knew she would come there as soon as she woke up.

"...... ...."

"Hi, Mime." There was an awkward silence that seemed to drag on forever, while she tried to think of something to say. Mime grew bored of waiting and signed something into her palm.

".. ..... .... ......" he said. ".... ... ......... .."

"Wait, what do you mean I deserved it?!" She almost couldn't believe he was being so mean. "If you're going to say sorry, don't say it like that." No reply. He simply stared out the window, a blank expression on his face. "Mime..." Gryffin did her best to keep the whine from her voice. "...I love you, sweetie. What can I do to prove it to you?"

"... ...."

"Yes, I _can_. Give me a chance!" He shook his head, turning away, and wild anger flared up inside Gryffin. How dare he? She hadn't done _anything_ to him, but he still wouldn't listen.

Her lips curled back in a snarl of anger, then her temper suddenly cooled and a sweet smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. She had an idea. An awful idea. An eye for an eye was the rule of the forest, after all.

She tentatively rested her hand on his shoulder, turning him to face her.

"Listen, sweetie," she said in a concerned, kind way. "I know you're mad, but maybe we can work around this." He stared at her coldly, one eyebrow raised. "Besides, you aren't willing to throw away a whole year just because of one stupid fight, are you?" The whole time she was talking, she moved closer and closer, her lips curved upwards in a coy smile, her eyes half-lidded. Mime felt his skin flush, and his knees went weak.

"... ... ..... ..... ...?"

"I'm talking about the nights you spent at my house, Mime. I remember how _frisky_ you got. If I remember correctly..." Her lips were mere inches from his. "...You _thoroughly_ enjoyed everything we did..." She kissed him, and he let out a silent moan, his eyes closing and his head tilting backwards, tensing as she pressed her hips against his.

She teased him, slowly backing him up against the wall, clawing at his sides. Mime had begun to tremble, like he always did when nervous and excited, and he returned her kisses with strong enthusiasm, a pleasant ache beginning to form in the pit of his stomach.

Gryffin pressed her hips harder against his, moving them slowly up and down, and he moaned again, relishing the hot, sensual feeling that had started in his most sensitive area. She smiled, then gently dug her claws into his back. The resulting sensation almost made his legs give out, and he gave a silent cry.

"You like that, Mime?" Gryffin asked, and he nodded, asking her to keep going. "Are you sure about that?" He nodded again, and her eyes flashed as she gave a sweet giggle. "You asked for it."

With a wild yowl, she thrust her hands into his back, deftly snapping the spine and pulling his intestines out of the gaping wound she had made. The pleasure in his face was gone, replaced with a look of surprise and horror. Gryffin let out a high, insane laugh as he shuddered, blood dripping from the sides of his mouth before he crumpled to the floor, his lungs growing still. The simple seduction had been an act worthy of Eerie!

"I asked you if you were sure, love. You shouldn't have treated me like you did." As if in answer, the dry, whispering voice of Chaos Zero rustled in her ears, making her whip around to face the opponent that wasn't there.

_Foolish girl, do you think you've stopped him? You have no idea the power this one controls...and you won't find out until it's released upon you, you stupid little cat! _

The ground outside had begun to shake, and the sky filled with ominous black clouds. Gryffin's moment of triumph was gone. She grew too frightened to fight back with her own magic, trembling and looking about with wide, fearful eyes.

_You've made me angry, 666. That wasn't smart. You think, just because you control an Emerald, that you can defeat my Mage and I?! MY CURSE WILL HUNT YOU DOWN LIKE A DOG! _

A wave of dark magic hit her full-force, knocking her onto her back. She screamed, covering her eyes as a brilliant flash of light illuminated the inside of the tent. When it faded, she took her hand away from her eyes, a knot forming in her stomach.

Mime was gone.

...............................................................................................................................................................................................

She curled up in bed that night, trying to sleep, but blissful oblivion stayed far away, no matter what she did. The curse lingered in her mind, making her eyes burn and leaving a bitter coating on her tongue. Pazuzu was gone, along with Eerie, and she had never felt more hopelessly alone in her entire life.

Waves of hot and cold began to wash over her, and she shakingly pushed the covers off her and stumbled to the bathroom, feeling dizzy and weak. Gryffin knelt in front of the toilet, each retch making her neck contract so that jolts of pain shot into her shoulders and back. It felt like she was being scoured from the inside out again, but in a far worse way than Mime had done with his simple curse.

When it was over, she curled up on the cold tiles of the bathroom floor, shivering and too weak to get up. Pazuzu wandered in, covered in mud and blood, and he stopped and cocked his head to the side when he saw her.

"Mommy?" he asked, crawling up alongside her. She let out a pained whimper, not able to move as she gagged and blood came up, filling her mouth and spilling onto the floor. Pazuzu knew enough about mortals to know a bad sign when he saw one. "Mommy is hurt?" She didn't give any reply, and Pazuzu thought for a moment. "I know! Mommy needs demon food. Be right back!"

The little demon went outside, snuffling around for anything he might be able to kill for Gryffin. He found a large bird and, after deftly snapping its neck, dragged it back inside to the bathroom.

"Foods for Mommy!" Pazuzu said delightedly, then dropped the bird next to Gryffin's face. She didn't so much as move, so he nudged it closer. "Mommy needs to eat. Demons throw up whenever they're hungry." She still lay there quietly. Pazuzu anxiously poked her with one tentacle, wondering why her eyes had gone so glassy. "Mommy?"

"Your Mommy isn't waking up for a while now," Eerie said, materializing in the tiny room. "She's dead." He looked from Eerie to Gryffin, his beady white eyes filling with shock.

"Mommy died? But...but...grown-ups don't die! Something has to kill them first!" The idea of 'grown-ups' being vulnerable, like children, struck Pazuzu as being very amusing. Eerie sighed and picked the baby demon up.

"Simple-minded little thing. Alright, squirmy...Aunt Eerie is going to take you to a friend's house for a while, okay? Your Mommy's sick, so we need to leave her alone until she's...better." Eerie picked the dead bird up by its wing, then tilted her head back, opened her mouth, and popped it in. She then delicately, almost like a kitten, wiped around her mouth with a graceful hand, took Pazuzu, and left.

...............................................................................................................................................................................................

Gryffin stayed alone in her house for countless months, the curse consuming her body and soul until there was almost nothing left. She grew emaciated, her skeleton painfully visible though her pale skin. She couldn't keep anything down, so she gave up on eating altogether, and each pang of hunger hurt more than any torture Evil Flippy could dish up. She was plagued with mad hallucinations and spent most of her time turning corners that weren't there and crashing into walls. It seemed that all around her, voices were murmuring words that she couldn't make out, and these combined with the hunger made sleep impossible.

She was content for a while to let starvation ravenge her body until she died, but soon simply dying wasn't fast enough. She began to kill herself, just to get that hour or so of rest and oblivion from the sickness that had crippled her, and then she would break down and sob for hours on end when she awakened. One night, when all she could see was a haze of dark shapes and the voices had begun to sound even more cruel than usual, she took the sharp, tiny sewing scissors from her bedside table and dug them into the soft flesh of her forearm.

Slash followed slash until she had tears in her eyes and blood dripping down both arms. She finally got control of herself, until she noticed what she had carved into both of her arms. One name, repeated over and over again. Mime.

It was not long after that nasty little incident that Splendid's curiosity got the better of him, and he came looking for her. It was difficult for him to remember where she lived at first; the curse wanted to make sure that no one would come to help her; but he managed to find her tiny cabin in the end.

"Gryffin?" He knocked on the door, and it instantly splintered inwards, breaking neatly in half. Splendid winced, mentally cursing himself for breaking another door, _again_. "Gryffin?" he called again. "Look, I'm sorry about the door..." ...No answer.

"Gryffin? Where are you?" He wandered into the living room, then stopped and stared at something wet and shiny-looking on the floor. It looked suspiciously like Gryffin's green-tinted blood, so he took a medical mask of out his pocket and slipped it over his mouth and nose. The trail of blood went from the living room to the kitchen, and it was splashed all over the walls as if she had thrashed about in some sort of dreadful agony.

Splendid slowly opened the kitchen door, afraid of what he would find, but nothing could have prepared him for what he saw. Gryffin was laying in the middle of the floor, her wings spread out, her feathers matted with blood, her cold hands clutching a small kitchen knife. Her wrists and throat were slashed wide open, blood still tricking out of the gaping wounds.

Splendid put one hand to his covered mouth, feeling slightly sick. He knelt down by her side, pulling the knife away and brushing her hair out of her eyes.

"Gryffin?" She stared at the ceiling, glassy-eyed. Splendid picked her body up from the floor, and even in the dim light, her emaciation was apparent. He carried her outside, then winced at how badly she had injured herself, wondering what made her want to commit suicide like that. In the harsh sunlight, every bone and bit of scarred skin was visible, and her normally white skin was a pasty grey. Splendid stood there for a moment, wondering what to do, then sped off towards his house, Gryffin in tow. He had to believe she wasn't too far gone to save.

...............................................................................................................................................................................................

When Gryffin began to wake, the first thing she saw was a gentle-looking face with a pair of brilliant blue eyes that stared at her with such kindness, she almost cried to see them. He, whomever he was, had a bright halo of light around his head, and he was murmuring to her in a soft voice.

_Is this it?_ she thought. _Am I finally dead for good?_ She was almost ready to weep with relief, smiling for the first time in almost a year.

"Can you hear me, Gryffin?" asked a familiar voice, and she cocked her head to the side.

"Splendid? Are you dead, too?" _Of course he's not dead,_ she instantly thought, scoldingly. _You're still alive._ He hadn't answered her question, but a slightly sad, slightly amused smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"I'm just glad you're awake, you foolish creature." He hoped she wouldn't notice how red his eyes were; it was true that he'd spent much time wondering what would happen if she never moved again. "What the Hell were you thinking, killing yourself like that?!"

"I wasn't thinking," she murmured, and he snorted.

"_That's_ obvious enough, but _why_? What on Earth made you do _this_?!" He lifted one of her tiny hands and turned it palms-upwards, revealing the sinewy scars on her wrist. "Does it have anything to do with Mime? From what I've heard, you guys had a fight or something..." Gryffin immediately felt a knot in her stomach, and her vision blurred as the dizziness and nausea came back.

"He's gone." Splendid stared at her, blankly.

"What do you mean, gone? As in, he died?"

"Chaos Zero." That was all she had to say. Splendid, on one of his many trips to Mobus, had heard of the blue shadow that ruled the barren plains of the planet, destroying all that dared to wander into his territory. Apparently, Chaos Zero wanted to control all of Mobus, but King Acorn and Shadow managed to fight him off, using the power of the Chaos Emeralds they each controlled.

Splendid's jaw dropped in a grimace of shock, and he shook his head.

"How did Chaos Zero get ahold of Mime?"

"I don't know, but Chaos must think he can use Mime to take over Mobus. Mime has...special abilities...that Chaos can use to his advantage." Splendid raised one eyebrow at her, but he didn't ask any more questions.

"Whatever. You need to eat something, now that you're awake." His lip curled back at her ribs, which were poking through her pale skin. "I'll be right back." She nodded and waited patiently as he went to the kitchen and heated a bowl of soup in the microwave, then came back.

He handed her the bowl, placing it in her outstreched hands, then gave a surprised yelp when her arms started to shake from the mild weight. He put his hands under hers, supporting her.

"You're weak as a kitten, Gryffin." Splendid said. "A tiny, starved kitten."

"I'm sorry." He rolled his eyes, placing the bowl in her lap and handing her a spoon so she could eat.

"Don't apologize for being sick. It's not like you can fight a disease as easily as you fight Lifty and Shifty."

Gryffin slowly and carefully ate the thin soup, her starving body screaming for the simple nourishment. Splendid watched her the whole time, a sad smile on his face.

"You need lots of help," he said quietly, and she felt that she couldn't agree more.

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**I'm going to go ahead and say that she isn't out of trouble yet. There's a long way to go before anyhthing can be right again.**

**Sorry for the shortness...and lame-o-ness...of this chapter. I'm trying to update a quickly as possible so you don't end up bored. (^_^)**

**Cheers!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Random quote of the day: "We apologize for the inconvenience." -- God's final message to his creation before destroying the Universe.**

**That's from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, an excellent book if you like dry humor. (^_^)**

**_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

Because of Splendid's refusal to let Gryffin leave until she was better, something that confused her to no end, she stayed at his house and tolerated being taken to all manner of doctors at his insistence. Of course, none of them could find anything wrong with her, but she still hadn't told Splendid about the curse, or that she had no idea when it would wear off.

On the outside, she seemed to be getting better. Her skin began to regain some of its glow, her feathers were growing in again, and she was slowly gaining weight, though there was no taste in food of any kind. After laying in bed for weeks, she finally grew restless and began to wander around Splendid's enormous house, using what little magic she had left to clean, pleasing Splendid. He took her pacing and tidying as a sign that she was healing at last.

On the inside, however, she was still withering. She could keep simple foods down, but they made an unpleasant weight in her stomach that ached sharply if she moved around too fast. She still had hallucinations, but they were now about her days in the laboratory, and more than once she awoke in a cold sweat, her back and legs tingling from the remembered pain of a few long-ago punishments. Her vision was blurry, and she found that her eyes burned sometimes for no reason, and that only served to bring out another headache.

Splendid had gone to Mime's house and managed to find a picture of him, which he thought would cheer her up. The picture was comical enough; Mime was staring up, a surprised look on his face, at a few sharp tools which seemed to be falling directly at him; but when Gryffin looked at it, the curse would suddenly become far more heavy, and she would be forced to look away.

One night, Splendid was out somewhere, and Gryffin was sitting in a chair by the window, alone. Her blurred vision made it difficult to see the stars outside, but she was able to make out the sliver of a moon that hung just above the forest. Today had been a good day; she hadn't slipped on anything and broken her neck, or dropped a glass and broken it, sending shards of glass into her chest. When those two incidents had happened, Splendid had called her clumsy, but she believed that it was the curse that made her fumble around like she did.

While she was sitting there, dozing, a small whisper met her ears.

_Gryffin..._

She sat up and looked around, her grey eyes unable to focus on anything. It sounded like it came from the bookshelf, where she had taken Mime's picture and hidden it inside a heavy book so she wouldn't be tempted to look at it.

_Gryffin._

It _did_ come from the bookshelf. She stood up and painfully made her way across the room, then removed the book and took the picture out. Mime's eyes glowed dark blue, like they did in real life, and he was no longer looking at the tools. He was staring straight at her, grinning leeringly at her, looking nothing like she sweet little deer she remembered.

_Ah, there you are, my love. _

She didn't reply, and the voice that was his, but not his, continued.

_You thought you could hide from me, didn't you? No matter, I didn't want to fight you again anyways. I just wanted to get a look at you...see if my nice present has taken full affect..._

The picture moved, and Mime looked her up and down. She set it down on the shelf, transfixed. The curse had robbed her of most of her senses; otherwise, she would have burnt it, or ripped it to bits.

_I see that you haven't been taking good care of yourself, have you? To bad...I always liked that juicy ass of yours..._

"Shut up!" She lashed out and swatted the picture away, and it fluttered to the floor.

_Poor little Gryffin, all alone. No one loves her..._

"I said SHUT UP!" She hated the simpering tones in the pictures voice, hated the leering face it depicted, hated Chaos Zero, hated Mime. She just wanted to never hear his voice again, but the picture wouldn't give up that easily.

_...Nobody likes you...everybody HATES you...I guess you'll go and eat worms..._

"SHUT THE FUCK UP! LEAVE ME ALONE!" She had fallen on her knees, covering her ears. His voice was taunting her, her head had begun to ache horribly enough to make her feel sick. Splendid flew in through the window, his blue eyes wide.

"Are you okay? I heard screaming." He looked from the picture, which had gone back to normal, to Gryffin, who had managed to stagger to her feet, coughing. "Gryffin?"

"Please, Splendid, just leave me alone for a while..." She dizzily made her way for the door, but Splendid grabbed her arm.

"Seriously, Gryffin, what's going on? Are you seeing thing, hearing things, what?" She flung his hand off her arm with as much force as she could muster.

"Leave me alone! Go save the world or something!" Gryffin staggered as fast as she could out of the study, leaving Splendid looking confused and hurt.

........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

She lay in bed that night, stretched out on her back, hoping it would help with the coughing fit she had gone into. It didn't work, and she coughed until blood flecked the corners of her mouth and left a coppery taste on her tongue. Mime's grinning face seemed to be burned into her brain, and it was all she could see when she closed her eyes.

Despite these uncomforts, sleep came to her at last, and so did a very odd dream. Shadow was standing in the midst of a forest, with trees that seemed to be something only out of imagination. Some had rings that hovered around their trunks with nothing to hold them up, some changed color and swayed of their own accord, but it was Shadow that truly caught her attention.

His eyes, their irises red, glowed as he stared directly at her, and he seemed to look her up and down in the same way that Mime had done, but in a much kinder way. She could see the scars on his face, the rough texture of the palms of his hands, the worn look to the shoes he wore. He looked like he could reach out and touch her, and had half a mind to do so.

_Gryffin, what are you doing there? You should be here, on Mobus. Did Robotnik send you there?_

She shook her head, wondering why she was having such a strange dream. Shadow glanced behind him, as if he heard someone approaching.

_No matter. You need to come back, before it's too late._

Too late? Gryffin didn't understand, but when she argued that she possibly couldn't, he gritted his teeth in frustration.

_You stupid woman, didn't you hear me? I said to climb off your deathbed and come to me before it's too late!_

He reached for her, then stopped and looked back.

_I can't keep you here. He knows._

The dream began to fade, but not before she saw Shadow turn to face an enemy she couldn't see, she heard his angry shout that turned into a roar as he released his full Chaos force upon whomever had intruded...

And then she was awake, sitting up in bed. Her heart hammered in her chest, her vision was perfectly clear for the first time in months. She stood up and began to dress herself in preparation to leave, then stopped and sat down heavily on the bed. A note. She had to leave a note so Splendid would know where she was.

She rummaged in a drawer and found a scrap of paper, and a tiny bit of lead broken off from a pencil. She sighed and hastily scribbled down a short explanation to Splendid, telling him that Shadow was going to help her, and she was leaving to see him.

With that done, she spread her wings, wondering if she was strong enough to fly, but she needn't have worried. Something other than her own strength held her up as she left the planet, hoping she would return soon.

........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

The entire trip was a blur, but she distinctly remembered landing on Mobus and looking about, confused. She was here, but how would she find Shadow? She had at least managed to land in a forest instead of on the barren plain, but all the trees around her were just as odd as the ones in her dream, and the all looked the same. A nearby spider clicked its pincers at her, then crawled up to her and tugged at the hem of her robe.

"Ugh..." She shuddered. She didn't like spiders at the best of times, and this one was easily as the size of a small cat, if not bigger. It tugged more insistently, and she meekly followed. The spider led her deeper and deeper into the forest, through twists and tangles of branches that got snagged on her wings and made her curse under her breath, but soon they came to a wide gorge with sloping walls, covered in what she hoped wasn't web.

It _was_ web, and sitting in the middle was the biggest spider she had ever seen. It was the size of a warhorse, ashy grey, with a bloated belly and eyes that were milky white; it was nearly blind. Her spider led her down into the gorge, and she bit back her fear, reminding herself that Pazuzu had eight legs, just like them. Somehow, that didn't help, and she shook with fear as they approached the massive monster.

It seemed not to notice the arrival of one sick cat and one of its many children, but then it shifted slightly and unfurled two gigantic palps, slimy with spider saliva, and ran them over Gryffin's face.

She cried out in disgust and tried to step back, but the little spider pushed her foreword again, clicking its fangs disapprovingly. The huge spider, having scented Gryffin, nodded to itself in a tired way.

"I know you. You're here to see Shadow." It wasn't a question, and she nodded.

"I don't know the way. Can you help me?" The spider sighed, gesturing for its tiny offspring to leave, which it did.

"I promised I would do something useful for Shadow one day, in return for bringing me to this forest." It sighed again, sounding even more tired. "I will take you to him myself, and so repay my debt." It hefted itself onto all eight of its feet, then crouched down slightly. "Climb up."

"On your...on your back?!" Gryffin asked, trying to keep the disgust from her voice. The spider hissed in irritation.

"No, stupid, I'm going to use my web to tie you to one of my feet. Get on." Gryffin hurriedly did so, and the spider lumbered off into the forest.

The heavy scent of the trees must have put her in another trace, because the next thing she knew was that they were suddenly on the shore of the lake, and the spider had came to a sudden halt.

"We're here," it said in its dull voice. "Off you go, little nucience." It pushed Gryffin off its back and trudged away, then was gone.

"Gryffin?" Shadow's dark voice reached her, and she looked around to see him coming out of the door to a deserted building, small and wild with vines that grew along the wall on the inside and out. He stared at her with an unreadable look on his face, then walked over to her, plucking a ripe-looking piece of fruit from a nearby tree.

"Shadow, why did you want me to come here?" She had traveled a long way, and wanted the answer, but he merely shook his head.

"Later, okay? Right now, I want you to eat this." He thrust the fruit, bigger than an orange but with the same color and texture of a strawberry, into her hands. She stared at it in confusion.

"What is this?"

"Eat it." Gryffin rolled her eyes in irritation, then obediently took a bite of the fruit. It's sweet flavor filled her mouth, and she chewed slowly and swallowed. She didn't remember taking another bite.

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**And now we've thrown Shadow into the mix! He's only a side-character, though, so don't get too excited.**

**In the next chapter, things start to get better. But then, in HTF, just when you think you're safe is when a plane crashes into you, or a giant piece of popcorn smashes your head in, or perhaps you get pizza thrown in your face by a little green bear.**

**Cheers!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Conversation between my brother and I.**

**Me: You a **_**fagela?**_** (The word **_**fagela**_** means fag, and it's from 'You Don't Mess With the Zohan,' a immature, hilarious movie that revolves around Adam Sandler's giant bush. Yes, THAT bush. (O.o) )**

**Him: *not paying attention* Yeah...no wait, **_**what?!**_

**If you remember, Gryffin is now on Mobus, being watched over by Shadow. This is where it all starts to come together.**

**_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

When Gryffin woke up, the first thing she noticed was the heavy scent of the vines that crept along the walls, mixed with the sound of Mobus wildlife. She sat up and looked around, confused, before the events from the previous day came back to her, and she sighed.

Getting up and finding that, thankfully, her feet were steady, she carefully made her way down the hall. There was a soft glow in the other end that she hoped was an electric heater, and a black figure that she knew was Shadow. He turned when he saw her and frowned, but didn't try to help as she limped slowly to a table by the heater's warm glow.

"You're awake too early," he said, sounding peeved. "That berry I gave you was supposed to make you sleep until your body could handle food." Gryffin smiled, and Shadow's heart stirred in a way that made him turn back to the heater, a nervous scowl on his face.

"I've slept long enough, if that's the case." She smiled wider, leaning on the table to steady herself. "I'm actually hungry. I haven't been hungry in a while."

"If over a year is 'a while' on that pathetic little planet, then you're all moving much too fast. Damn you..." He spoke through clenched teeth, as if he was truly furious at her. "...Why did you leave? You should have known that going anywhere would mean death for you!" She shook her head, now laughing.

"Shadow, I've died more times than I can count by now!"

"Don't say that!"

"But it's true. That planet is enchanted somehow, and everyone who lives there is immortal. You knew that, right?" His red eyes went wide, and he stared at her as if he was seeing her for the first time.

"Are you being serious?" She nodded, and he sighed and shook his head. "You're always getting into trouble, aren't you? Now I expect you'll heal and then go back to your immortal planet." It was Gryffin's turn to shake her head.

"No. Chaos Zero has a friend of mine, Mime and..." Up until now, she hadn't given her plans much thought, but now there was only one obvious answer. "...And now I've got to get him back." Shadow's face suddenly became completely blank, a slightly cold look in his red eyes.

"We'll see," he said. "Right now you need food." He went outside and came back with a handful of tiny berries, which he handed to her.

"These won't make me sleep, will they?" she asked with a small smile, and he rolled his eyes.

"You can't eat very well when you're asleep," he said simply, and watched her as she slowly and carefully ate them, then worked her way through a tiny piece of bread. Once she was done, he smiled. "Come with me."

Gryffin nodded, feeling full and content, and meekly shuffled behind him.

He led her to the lake where the spider had dropped her off what seemed like ages ago, and stood looking over the water, another frown on his face.

"What..." she began to ask, but he held up his hand for silence. As they watched, a golden ring emerged from the center of the lake and hovered over the surface for a minute before sinking back down again. Confused, Gryffin looked up at Shadow's face and saw, although a little unclearly, that he was smiling.

"That ring is one of the last of the Enchanted Rings, forged by a wise hedgehog years ago. He somehow managed to take the magic from the Chaos Emeralds and make it pure, so Chaos Zero had no control over whoever used them." He turned to her, looking slightly ashamed. "The magic we use is tainted with Chaos' malice, and so we're under his control, so to speak."

"How many are left?" she asked, and he shrugged.

"A few dozen, but this is the one that's easiest to find. Now..." He bent down and scooped a little of the lake water into a leaf, then handed it to her. "Drink this." She looked at the shimmering water, then looked back up a Shadow.

"Will _this_ make me sleep?" He sighed.

"No, but if you keep asking, I know a heavy rock that will do the job nicely. Drink." Gryffin, wondering why he had taken the habit of bossing her around, hesitantly put the leaf to her mouth and swallowed the tiny bit of water.

As the strange taste met her lips, her mind reeled, and time itself seemed to turn and spin crazily, images flashing in front of her eyes so quickly that she hardly had time to really see them; Happy Tree Friends waking up to sirens and rushing from their homes, fearful and confused, Splendid skimming just above the ground, using his fists to bat away robotic enemies that came hurtling from him at all sides, Flippy surrounded by droids, his eyes green and laughing madly as he flung hand grenades at them. The entire planet was at war.

There was a horrible drowning roar in her ears, and the image blurred, fading to an anxious face peering down at her, and she was aware of someone shaking her roughly by the shoulders. The face was Shadow's, and he grinned with apparent relief when she opened her eyes and realized she was flat on her back.

"Are you okay?" he asked, and she smiled with surprise.

"I can _see_." He glanced towards the lake, its waters peaceful, and frowned slightly.

"I had hoped for that. The curse is broken, but I think..." He looked back towards Gryffin and showed her a tiny scrape on her hand, where she had fallen. "...I think you've lost your Chaos powers."

"Huh?!" She looked down at her hand and blinked in surprise, wondering if her eyes were playing a trick on her. The blood that dotted the scraped skin wasn't green, but a healthy red instead. "My...my Chaos Emerald..."

"Has been purified," Shadow finished, looking slightly jealous. "The water will only help one in serious need, but besides that, your powers might have been morphed into the powers of the Ring. They will be harder to control, and even harder than that to call on in the first place." He sighed. "At any rate, you are no longer in Chaos Zero's grip." Gryffin was still staring at the three dots of red blood on her palm, looking slightly horrified.

"How can I defeat him if I can't even use magic?!" she asked, looking up at Shadow, who kept his face tactfully blank.

"Like I said, you can still use magic, it'll just be harder. Come on," he said, helping her to her feet. "You need to eat again."

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Gryffin and Shadow stayed in the abandoned building for months, experimenting on Gryffin's powers and honing them as best as they could. Her powers were still there, and strong as ever, but calling on them required a huge amount of concentration and strength, and simple spells often left her gasping for breath.

Nevertheless, she grew stronger and healthier, and soon Shadow was forced to admit she was free to go.

"You need to hurry," he said one night, as the three moons of Mobus were rising. "Chaos has most likely gripped your planet. The sooner you defeat him, the better."

"I know," Gryffin replied, thinking of the images she had seen when she had first tasted the water from the Ring's lake. They stood there for a moment, completely silent, and Shadow found himself wishing she had been a little slower in recovering, a little further gone, just so that he would have more time to be with her.

He was trying to find a way to voice these thoughts, when she turned and gave him a very soft kiss on the cheek.

"Shadow," she said quietly, not looking him in the eye. "We've been friends since I was created, and I hope we can still be friends even when I'm not here..." He nodded. "...But I can't stay. It's not that I don't want to, but I can't. Mime needs me. My home needs me. You understand, don't you?"

She had thought often of just staying with him forever, knowing that he possibly loved her and would gladly stay with her the rest of their lives...but...that would be far too selfish for her to do. She had to rescue Mime and go back to the other happy Tree Friends, where she belonged.

Shadow merely nodded, not trusting himself to say too much.

"Go quickly," he said, and she turned around and flew off, knowing she would never see him again. He almost felt thankful that she didn't look back. Almost.

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Shadow had told her once that Chaos dwelled in the West, so that was where she was heading, going all the more faster now that she had healed enough to fly again. Her wings beat in a steady, fluid motion, and each tiny updraft seemed to find her and take her higher, wind whistling in her ears and ticking through her feathers. Just as her strength had returned, her vision had cleared, and she now smiled whenever she could look at the ground and see an outline instead of a blur of color.

While she flew, the annoying drone of something that sounded like a jet plane began to hum in her ears, making her shake her head in irritation. Where was that sound coming from? She looked around, but there was nothing nearby that would make a sound like that. It sounded so familiar...but where had she heard it before.....?

It happened so fast that she hardly had time to figure out what was going on. One moment, she was flying along with that annoying hum in her ears, and the next, a blue blur had flown straight into her at a speed that made it almost impossible to see, slamming her to the ground. The next thing her rattled mind was able to register was that Splendid was clutching her by the shoulders and shaking her somewhat roughly, his face a mixture of relief and anger.

"You idiot!" he shouted so loudly that several birds nearby took flight. "How the Hell could you do this, huh?! Do you have any idea how worried I've been?!" All Gryffin was able to do was stare blankly.

"You're sitting on me." It was the only thing she could think of to say, and Splendid made a buzz-saw sound in his throat that would have worried almost anyone but her.

"What were you thinking, running off like that?" he asked. The anger suddenly drained from his face, and he helped her stand up, hugging her tightly. "Don't you _ever_ scare me like that again, okay?" Gryffin smiled in spite of herself.

"I wrote a note and told you were I was," she said. "Didn't you get it, you crazy thing?" He sighed and nodded.

"Of course I did, but you were so sick..." He looked her up and down, then smiled. "I take it that Shadow helped you?" She nodded, and he grabbed her hand, dragging her along as he flew up into the sky. "In that case, you can just come back with me. Flippy's been really worried about Eerie, and I know Disco Bear is-"

"Hold up there, Splendid." Gryffin brought them both to a halt, and Splendid looked at her, confusion in his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"Chaos Zero still has Mime, and I'm not leaving without him." She took her hand away and crossed her arms stubbornly, her jaw clenched and a defiant look in her eye. Splendid shook his head.

"No way, Gryff. It's too dangerous for you to face Chaos. You're too young, for God's sake! Just come back with me, and we can find Mime later, okay?"

"No. I need to rescue him, and I'm not waiting for your permission to do it, either." She turned tail and flew westward, Splendid straining to keep up.

"Gryffin, you get back here right now!" He sounded angry again, but the anger was tinged with something she couldn't place. Sadness? Worry? Whatever it was, it was extremely irritating.

"No, Splendid!" She stopped suddenly and whipped around, her eyes blazing blue. "Mime needs me! Why don't you mind your own business for once, huh?!" He looked like she had just slapped him, his eyes stinging suddenly, and she felt a stab of guilt. "I'm sorry, love. I just can't leave him here." He nodded, though he didn't look at all happy about it.

"If you insist on killing yourself..." Gryffin winced at the bitterness in his voice. "...Than at least let me come, too. Chaos can't possibly be a match for the both of us." He did his best to sound brave and confident, but she could hear the horrible uncertainty in the way he spoke, though all she did was nod and allow him to follow as she flew westward again.

As they flew, Splendid tried his best to talk about how Gryffin's friends were holding up, but she wouldn't respond to anything, and he wondered why she was staying so silent.

"You okay?" he asked, flying up close to her so he could see her face. She was ashen and stony-faced, her eyes staring straight ahead, flashing from grey to blue and back again as if she couldn't make up her mind. Only then did it occur to him that she was far more frightened then she let on, so he didn't try to make her talk. "We can always turn back, you know. No one will think any less of you for it." She snapped her eyes to his, as if he had startled her.

"Would you sit by and do nothing if it were me in there? Furthermore, would you let someone talk you out of rescuing me?" Splendid was taken aback, but he couldn't help but laugh at her cheek.

"I wouldn't, I guess. You're right." She smiled, and they flew on in silence.

They stopped to rest only when Gryffin could no longer breathe without coughing, and even then, Splendid had to talk her into landing. She groaned quietly as she sank down onto the ground, her wing muscles throbbing with sharp stabs of pain, and almost immediately closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Splendid stared at her for a moment, then shrugged and pulled her into his lap, stroking her feathers. She sighed quietly and curled up into a little ball, and he felt a lump well up in his throat. He couldn't let her just walk into that tower and kill herself, but...he remembered how she looked when he had suggested to wait to rescue Mime. Her jaw had jutted foreword and her eyes became hard, just like his did when he was angry. He wondered if she ever noticed (or cared) that she looked so much like him, and if she could guess why.

He must have dozed off, because the next thing he knew was that Gryffin was gently nudging him, and the sun was peeking over the horizon.

"Come on, sleepyhead," she said teasingly. "We'd better get going if we're going to make it to Chaos Zero's tower before nightfall." Splendid groaned and sat up, rubbing the dirt off his face.

"Do we have to?"

"Hurry up before I leave you behind." She smiled and helped him stand up, and they took off again, and Splendid found himself anxiously wondering if her wings hurt, then chastising himself for being so ridiculously protective. "So..." she said, after a few moment's silence. "...How goes the war?"

"What war?" Splendid asked, glancing sideways at her in confusion. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"But...when Shadow healed me, I saw..." She stopped in midair, her eyes closed in concentration. "...I saw a battle. You and Flippy...and others...it looked like you were winning, but there were so many robots..."

"I think you've been reading too much sci-fi," Splendid responded, patting the top of her head. "It must have just been another crazy dream."

"I know what I saw..." Gryffin muttered under her breath as they flew onward, Chaos Zero's tower now in sight. As they flew, the landscape changed from barren and dry to rocky and fairly humid, as if a huge cave's ceiling had been broken open and the walls inside were still damp. A light green mist began to obscure their sight and press in on them, making it difficult to breathe.

Splendid swallowed nervously, his blue eyes scanning the area. He could feel it; the sickening weak feeling that came from being exposed to Chaos power, the splitting headache that made his vision swim and his stomach lurch; the creeping pain across his skin as if it might dissolve away if he didn't run. Gryffin didn't feel any of these things, thankfully, but her face had become slightly grey and her eyes had taken on a blue tint again.

Suddenly, Splendid's powers seemed to fail him and he began to fall, and Gryffin yelped and caught him, managing to slow him down before he crashed to the ground below. He couldn't see anything now, and the Chaos power around him was so strong that he felt like his lungs were being crushed. The dizzy, nauseating feeling rose, and he vomited, cursing under his breath.

"Are you okay?" Gryffin asked, kneeling down and placing a hand on his shoulder as she bit back her own disgust. Splendid shook his head, his teeth clenched and his knees shaking as he tried to stand.

"I can't g-go any further than this," he groaned, wiping his mouth on the back of his arm. "We have to go back." Together, Splendid leaning heavily on Gryffin, they managed to walk to a huge slab of upright rock where the mist seemed a little thinner. He sank to the ground, still not trusting himself to open his mouth, and Gryffin peered around the rock at the shadow that was just barely visible though the green haze.

"That must be Chaos Zero's tower," she said. "So this mist has to be the power Chaos releases. Interesting."

"Yeah, great." Splendid groaned loudly, his face slightly pale. "We're stuck here until Chaos runs out of power, I guess. This would be a great chance to go back to Happy Tree, you know."

Go home quick, before it's too late!

"No way," Gryffin snapped back, her eyes flashing blue. "_You_ may not be able to go any further, but _I_ can." She turned to Splendid and helped him to his feet.

"What're-"

"Go back to Happy Tree and get ready, okay? Something tells me that someone's going to attack the planet soon, and everyone's going to need you. You're going to have to be quick."

"But Gryffin, I-"

"There's no time for it! I know you don't want me to rescue Mime, but I'm so close....I can't turn back now." She sounded like she was almost begging now, and Splendid's heart sank.

"You sure you don't need my help?" he asked, and she seemed to hesitate.

It still isn't too late to change your mind...

"I'm sure. I'll see you when I get back, alright?" She hugged him, and he felt his eyes begin to burn with sudden tears, and hugged her until her back popped and she squeaked with pain.

He turned to fly away, but he felt her touch his shoulder, and he turned around, hoping she had changed her mind. To his disappointment, Eerie was standing there, a sad look in her electric blue eyes.

"So, we finally meet, huh?" she asked, a wry smile twisting her mouth, exposing her fangs. "Too bad the situation doesn't look more...cheerful. I'm Eerie." Splendid let the demon shake his hand.

"What do you want?" he asked, and she sighed.

"I need you to give this back to Flippy," she said. "Tell him I won't need it anymore." She reached into the folds of her sash and pulled out his Bowie knife, its edge newly sharpened. Splendid took it, bewildered; even he knew that Flippy never parted with his knife.

"He let you borrow..."

"He thought it might come in handy. Well, Evil Flippy did, anyways. We demons _do_ have a slight bit of intuition when it comes to trouble, you know...so I have to be honest with you; I don't think either of us is going to make it out of there."

"DON'T SAY THAT!" Splendid's eyes flashed red, the air around his face shimmering with heat, and Eerie raised one eyebrow.

"Temper, squirrel. I'm just saying it like it is." She backed up a few steps, back into range of Chaos Zero's power. "Be sure to tell Flippy, both of him, that they'd better not get weepy over me." With that, she turned and flew off towards the tower, and Splendid took off for Happy Tree, knowing he couldn't stop them.

Too late.

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**So close! Only a couple more chapters to go! SQUEEEEE!**

**Honestly, though, what the **_**fuckhmah**_** happened to everyone? There's no one publishing or reading stories, no one on the boards, no one anywhere! HAS THE WORLD GONE MAD?!**

**By the way, I guess I should tell you what's up with Gryffin's eyes. She has PTSD, and her eyes change color when she's frightened or angry, but it's a different color blue then Eerie's eyes. Eerie has eyes that are almost cobalt, but Gryffin's eyes look just like Splendid's when they change; sky-blue. **

**Of course, I hate the color blue. Can you tell? (^_^)**

**Cheers!**


	16. Chapter 16

**And here we go.**

**_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

It seemed that Gryffin had been flying around for hours, so she didn't even know that she was heading straight for the tower until she smacked her head on the hard, black stone it was made of. She spun dizzily towards the ground, landing in a heap on the red earth, her head throbbing and her vision blurring, but she managed to stagger to her feet, leaning heavily on the smooth tower wall.

With her hands on the wall (the green haze made it impossible to see anything), she managed to grope her way around the tower, and eventually found a door. Steeling herself for what she was about to do, she went inside, and found herself in pitch-black darkness, then set her foot on the first step she found and began to climb upwards.

The stairs seemed to spiral up into the heavens, and she wondered if she would end up on one of Mobus' red moons, and would be able to see Shadow's forest somewhere below. Her entire body ached with tension and the stress of climbing, and sweat dripped down her back and legs, dampening her feathers. Once or twice she tried to spread her wings only to find that the stairway was too narrow and her wings had to remain folded at her sides, and the knowledge that she was completely grounded added to her aching.

Up she climbed. She lost track of how many steps there were; her mind was too numb to think. The Ring's magic had become a small burning flame in her chest, but its light gave no comfort and Gryffin chose to ignore it. The air seemed to grow heavier with each step, and a dark scent pressed down on her, threatening to crush her. She recognized the scent. It was Evil, and Evil suddenly had become her constant companion there in the darkness, hassling at her heels, brushing her shoulders like her own wings, watching and waiting gleefully for her to stumble. Gryffin panted and struggled on, keeping her mind fixed on Mime and what was soon to come.

Her body had begun to scream for rest; each new step jarred her to the point where she almost fell when she lifted her feet, but the darkness frightened her and Chaos Zero's presence made her all the more determined not to give in. The only things of her body that weren't exhausted were her wings, and they still ached from staying pressed so tightly to her sides; her wing muscles had begun to cramp. She wondered how long she had been climbing, and thought that perhaps Splendid and the others had won the battle, but the weight of the air in the tower left no room for pleasant thoughts, so she concentrated on steadily walking on.

Just when she had began to climb faster, fortified with the strength of panic, the stairs ended, and they ended so suddenly that Gryffin lost her balance and fell over, hitting the cold floor with a sharp thud. She felt pain in her jaw and tasted blood in her mouth, and hurriedly staggered to her feet, blushing through no one was there to see her, or was there? She could feel some sort of presence in the room, and it didn't feel like Chaos Zero. This presence felt quieter, defeated, mortal.

A tiny sound in the far corner startled her, and she spread her wings, finding that there was enough room at last, then turned to face the unknown adversity. She half-expected some horrible beast to come charging at her from the darkness, but all had grown eerily quiet.

Nothing came. She slowly began to walk foreword, her eyes slowly becoming used to the darkness in the room, which was far lighter than the darkness that had suffocated her on the stairway. She could make out a tiny shape in the far corner, but she couldn't quite tell what it was, or if it was alive, or what it was doing there. It moved and whimpered, and she realized it was an animal, curled up on its side with huge gashes in its back, as if it had been trampled by some sort of clawed beast.

Her fear left her for a moment and she went closer, her eyes fixed on the creature and her claws drawn in case it showed itself to be hostile. It moved again, shivering although the room was quite warm. A chilled feeling curled up inside Gryffin's stomach, and she walked around the small pile of skin and fur, then gasped and fell to her knees next to the strange animal.

It was Mime.

He was scrawny and filthy, his face and body torn almost beyond recognition. His antlers had been cracked and broken, his ears were completely gone, and his fur was matted with blood, dirt, and sweat. He looked up at Gryffin through wide, frightened eyes, his knees drawn up to his naked chest and his thin shoulders hunched. Each breath he took seemed to rattle through his body and hurt him, and blood trickled from the corners of his mouth. Gryffin thought she was going to be sick.

"M-Mime?" she asked hesitantly, reaching out and laying a hand on his shoulder. He jerked as if her touch caused him pain, and a low keeling sound came from his mouth. "Mime, it's me." She tried to take one of his hands, but he shuddered and shrank away, moon-eyed with pain and fear. He looked nothing like the plump, gentle deer he had been. He looked just like the other experiments in the laboratory, wasting away before they died, their minds broken and their bodies torn after horrible tests had been performed on them.

Tears burned in her eyes, and she gently laid her hand on his face, noticing how his lips, once so soft and warm, were cracked and bleeding, flecked with froth as if he had been foaming at the mouth like a rabid animal.

"Mime, please...." she whispered. "....It's me. I'm here to save you...." Mime didn't move, but his eyes snapped to hers and he seemed to relax slightly. Then a spasm of pain crossed his face and he curled up tighter, a howl of agony ripping its way from his lips. Gryffin snatched his hand and clasped it tightly with both of hers, begging now. "Mime? MIME! Please, listen to me! Please...." Her shout seemed to have startled him, and he stopped crying out and started shivering, looking terrified.

"Y-you're......real?" It was the first time Gryffin had heard him speak, and she stared at him, open-mouthed.

"I'm real," she said at last, regaining a little of her composure. "Dear God, love.....what happened to you?!" Mime closed his eyes, not replying, trying to move closer to her but unable to do more than uncurl his arms slightly. Gryffin put her arms around his scrawny body and pulled him into her lap, nestling him close. He was gasping with pain, and she realized that his legs, back, and ribs had been broken, and bits of bone were poking through his skin.

"G-Gryffin..." he whispered in a choked, pain-filled voice, then began to cry with rough, noisy sobs. Gryffin gently stroked him and made comforting cooing sounds.

"I'm going to get you out of here," she promised, tears streaming down her own cheeks at what her beloved had become. "I swear, love, Chaos Zero won't hurt you anymore." If she thought that would make him feel better, she was mistaken. He cried harder, burying his face in her chest and leaving smudges of dirt and blood on her white robe.

"I......I'm so sorry...." he wailed, sounding like a wounded dog. "....I hurt you......I let Chaos tell me...horrible things.....I'm sorry......" Gryffin wrapped her arms around him, willing him to be calm, and his sobs began to subside.

"Shhhhh, Mime....It's all going to be alright...." she whispered, delivering a soft kiss to his forehead. "I promise." The darkness had almost completely faded, but then there was a soft sound in the middle of the room as if someone had lit a match, and the room seemed to explode, and Gryffin could smell heated copper.

The force of the explosion lifted Gryffin off the floor and brushed her to one side, and she slammed against the wall. Bright lights, brighter than the white light that shone in the room, danced in front of her eyes; she shut them and pulled herself to her feet, fighting the power that wanted to engulf her.

There, in the middle of the room, was Chaos Zero. He looked like he might have had a physical form at one time, but that it had been left behind when its owner had became immortal and its shadow was all that remained. Two bright blue eyes without pupils opened in what might have been a face, and a wide mouth filled with sharp teeth formed a horrible leer as Chaos tilted his head to the side and lifted one hand as if in greeting.

"How sweet," he said in his dry, rasping voice. "That you would drag yourself through all manner of humiliation to save that pathetic theatre brat. Well met, 666."

Gryffin had begun to shake like a leaf, though not from fear; now that she was face-to-face with Chaos Zero, she found that she was unspeakably angry and tired.

"I wouldn't insult Mime if I were you, Chaos" she said, her feathers ruffling to make her look twice her size. "He has more power than you can imagine." Once again, her words didn't have the effect she hoped. Chaos threw back his head and laughed a terrible, ringing laugh that sounded far too much like her own.

"His 'power' came from me, foolish child," he said, his shadowy shoulders heaving with mirth. "Did you believe that one as weak as him could be a natural-born Mage?"

"He isn't weak." Chaos Zero laughed again.

"You still defend him after what he has done to you?" he asked. "He scorned your love, cursed you with madness and left you alone to starve and injure yourself. I see the scars that your own hand placed on your wrist and neck. What makes you think that if you save him, he will care for you again?"

"You can't fool me," Gryffin replied calmly. "You were the one who turned him against me, and you won't live to harm him any more." The Ring's power blazed inside her, and it formed itself into a long blade which she clasped firmly with both hands. Chaos recognized the magic, and his eyes suddenly were aflame with anger.

"The Ring!" he howled, and he seemed to grow until he towered over her, his hands raised as if he wanted to crush her. "Fine, 666, we will fight, however..." He swept his hand to the side. "...If the fight is to be fair, the demon must go!" Another gust of foul magic swept over her, and she screamed. Eerie was ripped brutally from her mind, and her demonic body now lay cold on the floor next to Mime, who lay just as still.

Gryffin screamed again, from anger and loss, but she suddenly felt very weak; she couldn't move. As she watched, Chaos Zero's raised hands melted and his arms twisted together until he had fashioned a blade of his own. Gryffin braced herself for attack, but he moved far too fast for her to block, and then she felt her arms jerk into place; the Ring blocked his sword.

She had no time to say a word of thanks, as Chaos attacked brutally and without pausing between blows, but he couldn't break through the Ring's hold. Gryffin began to fight back, stabbing insted of merely blocking, twisting her blade against his to break though his defense. However long the fight went on, she had no clue, but her robe was soaked through with sweat and her muscles had begun to grate against her bones; this was worse than climbing stairs.

"Why is this happening?!" Chaos screamed, unable to break Gryffin's hold on her blade. "You were created from a Chaos Emerald! You should not be able to stand against me!" Gryffin laughed, surprised she still had the strength left to laugh.

"You never pay attention, do you?" she managed to gasp. "I have been cleansed of your malice. The Ring gave me it's power, and I'm no longer under your control!" Chaos Zero's defense fell for a split second, and she stabbed directly into his side.

There was an ugly, harsh sound of stone grating against stone, and the Ring's blade flickered and died. Chaos screamed a command, and Gryffin was pushed flat on the floor, and chains made of pure Chaos energy sprang up from the floor, holding her down.

"Well? You've no need to be under my control!" he said, crossing his arms and laughing. "This is what you get for trying to be a hero and associating yourself with cowards."

"What do you mean?!" Gryffin snapped back, struggling, but there was no way for her to get up. Chaos watched her with an amused smile on his face.

"I mean that ignorant deer, and everyone else you think of as your friends." He sneered at the two limp forms in the corner. "Take Splendid, for example. He's kind to you, and why shouldn't he be? No one but you knows that he sired a mistake, and he's far too ashamed to tell anyone else." Gryffin kept quiet, but anger was beginning to bubble inside of her, making her chest hurt. Chaos smiled coyly at her. "No, he must be kind to you so that you'll keep your secret. After all, no one wants to admit they're the father of a test-tube calamity!"

"What are you talking about?!" Gryffin finally snapped. "Splendid has no children. He lives by himself." Chaos Zero began to laugh again, and Gryffin felt her skin break out in creepy gooseflesh.

"So you don't know who I'm talking about, do you? No, I should have guessed that Daddy-Dearest would keep the secret from his own daughter!" What he was saying slowly dawned on her, and the hot, bubbling feeling blazed suddenly and moved from her chest to her eyes.

"You mean Splendid is..."

"...Your own bumbling, oblivious father. He never really cared about you...at least, not until you crash-landed right into his lap. He couldn't very well send you away, so he kept you instead. It was far more convenient for him, don't you see?" Chaos Zero's voice had changed, taken on a sharper edge as if his teeth were getting in the way. "Why else would he have let you stay in the laboratory for twenty-one years? He was ashamed to admit he had created anything less than a perfect war machine."

"Splendid loves me, Chaos. He made sure I got here safely." Her eyes had become burning hot, and her head began to ache slightly.

"Oh yes, he brought you here safely, and then left you to your doom without a second thought!" Chaos Zero suddenly brought his hand down and slapped her, hard, across the cheek, and the angry, hot feeling in Gryffin's eyes exploded with a flash of brilliant red light, hotter than lightning or the desert at midday.

Red was all she could see, until it felt like she was drowning in fire, and Chaos screamed a scream that cut across the air and shook Gryffin completely through, and she flinched, snapping her eyes shut against the sheer force of its sound.

Chaos Zero's shadowy body burst, casting waves of darkness all over the room, and his power left in a rush like a strong wind. Gryffin's chains vanished, so she managed to get to her feet, shaking uncontrollably. Eerie slowly sat up, stretching.

"What the Hell?" she asked, looking around. "What are we doing here? Why...what happened to me?!"

"What are you talking about?" Gryffin asked, trying to control her sudden exhaustion. Eerie looked down at her own body, then looked up, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"Don't you get it? This isn't an illusion. I have my own body!" The demon's euphoria suddenly faded, and she looked down in horror at the limp body at her feet. "What on Earth happened to the mute?" Gryffin ran to Mime, kneeling by his side. She felt his wrist, pressed one of her large ears to his chest, but there wasn't even a whisper of life left in his cold body.

"He..." Eerie sympathetically put her hands on Gryffin's shoulder, her cobalt eyes full of remorse.

"He's gone, Gryffin."

"He can't be gone! He's a Happy Tree Friend, for God's sake! He'll come back, right?"

"Only one way to find out." Eerie picked Mime's body up and flung him across her shoulders, but Gryffin made her stop. Without saying a word, she took Mime of Eerie's back and held him, her tears spilling over at last, but Eerie gently touched her shoulder and the two of them took off, heading back to a planet at war.

Gryffin held Mime close, her one arm supporting his body, the other cradling his head like one might hold a child. He had held her the same way, the very first time she died, and now it was her turn to hold him. She just prayed she wasn't too late.

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**Only two more chapters to go, guys. Is it blowing your mind?!**

**I'll bet you're hanging on the edge of your seat.**

**I'll bet your eyes are glued to the computer screen.**

**I'll bet you're thinking, "Why the Hell does she keep skipping lines for each sentence?!" (^_^)**

**(Look! I did it again! I just like using the enter button...it's so shiny and clickable!) Next chapter will be around...soon. How soon? Soon soon. That's as close as I can get.**

**Cheers!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Well, this is gonna be a short one. I've been kind of dragged through the mud for the past three weeks, so there's no energy to make this long-winded.**

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Splendid landed on Happy Tree, his nerves jumping. He wiped his hand across his forehead, wondering why he was so freaked out; everything was fine here, wasn't it? Cuddles and Giggles were being the obnoxious couple making out under a tree, in plain sight of everyone else; Petunia was picking flowers with Flaky; Lumpy was walking his pet elephant down the sidewalk, drawing odd glances from passer-by. Everything was normal.

Splendid felt slightly angry at the fact that no one seemed to notice that Gryffin was gone. Didn't they know that she was probably in deep trouble right now?

Didn't they even care?

The sunlight suddenly darkened, and all the Happy Tree Friends in the area looked up at they sky in alarm, anticipating rain, but what they saw was far worse then anything they could have imagined.

What seemed like a small planet was drifting towards Happy Tree, but as it rotated, a giant laser probe became visible, and the familiar (to Splendid) legend of a robotic face with a magnificent mustache could clearly be seen on the side.

Ivo Robotnik had finally arrived. Splendid, stared up in disbelief, then felt anger, wild and white-hot, flare up in his chest. He took off, leaving a circle of scorched grass below, and made full speed for the ship, but then came the dizziness and nausea that he associated with exposure to Kryptonut, and he could go no closer.

A tall, if very fat, figure strode up on the prow of the laser, letting loose a cold, mirthless laugh.

"So, Splendid," Ivo said, looking down at the struggling squirrel and grinning. "It's been what...twenty-one years?"

"What the Hell do you want, Ivo?!" Splendid was truly angry now, his eyes glowing red, but the power of the Chaos Emeralds aboard the ship meant there was nothing he could do; his lasers bounced harmlessly off of Ivo's corpulent frame. He sneered down at Splendid, his raven-black eyes flashing coldly.

"I want my experiment back, Splendid. I gave you strict orders to stay away, and you disregarded them."

"No you didn't! You told me she died!"

"Nonetheless, I didn't give you permission to interact with 666-B. It was supposed to remain completely isolated from civilized people...not that you count," the doctor added venomously. "Now, give it back."

"Why won't you admit that she has a name, huh?!" Splendid asked, stalling so that the other Happy Tree Friends could flee to their houses. "Why won't you admit she's a person, not just a machine? Afraid of your little minions thinking you're _soft_?"

"666-B was created to be a weapon for me, not a pet. I believe you knew that when you agreed to donate your DNA to help create _it_."

"You liar! You told me that _she_ would be treated well until I had the means to take care of her myself!" Splendid was shaking with blind rage, his fists clenched so tightly that his fingernails were digging into his palms, and blood dripped from his hands, but he didn't notice. "You've done nothing more than take advantage of the both of us!" Ivo simply grinned and shrugged one shoulder, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It worked, didn't it? After killing everyone on your home planet, you must have been desperate to find someone who didn't hate you. The idea of being father to a charming little girl must have appealed to you greatly, but I guess it all wore thin. You didn't even write to her. What kind of father is that, hmm?"

"You told me she was dead, and then you planted Kryptonut in your buildings so I couldn't get near! Don't blame the way you treated Gryffin on me, you sick bastard!" Ivo examined his fingernails, looking bored.

"I'd love to discuss that misbegotten creature with you, but obviously it represents a great investment, so I hope you understand that I need it back." He glanced towards the planet, a smirk on his lips. "And I'm not afraid to use force, unless you want to be a good little squirrel and just give it to me..."

"She isn't here, Ivo. You're too late." Splendid grinned, his eyes narrowed and alight with triumphant anger. "She's gone somewhere where you can't find her."

"Not here, hmm?" Ivo didn't seem troubled. "No matter. It'll be simple to draw it back. After all, I'm sure 'Gryffin' will come running when her Daddy-Dearest and all his little friends are in trouble." He reached down and pressed a switch at his feet, and the bottom of the ship fell away, deploying hundreds upon thousands of robots onto the planet below.

The few Happy Tree Friends who had remained outside took off running, terrified of this strange threat. Flippy hurtled out the front door of his house, his mouth open in a half-astonished, half-angry snarl. As the first robot hit the ground and activated itself, he threw himself at it and punched, with his bare hand, completely through its metallic body. Splendid flew over the field of droids, managing to dispatch a few with his lasers, but the metal they were crafted from was stronger than anything found on Happy Tree, and he had little success.

As more of the robots were activated, more Happy Tree Friends came out of their homes, armed with simple household items; aluminum baseball bats, pieces of PVC pipe, shovels, kitchen knives...they weren't going down without a fight. Some of them fell back when the robots all stood in unison and released a volley of bullets from the guns they carried; they had never seen guns before, and were reasonably frightened by these strange new devices that made thundering booms and could destroy an entire limb; but they soon gathered themselves together and charged, knowing they were safe no matter what happened.

Splendid, surrounded by robots battling Happy Tree Friends, managed to pick Flippy out of the chaos. The bear was still fighting, though the skin on his hands was completely gone and blood soaked his sleeves. His eyes glowed green and curses shot from his mouth as he grinned wickedly, despite the pain, at his attackers.

Splendid managed to fight his way to Flippy's side, using his lasers to destroy an oncoming droid, then quickly took the Bowie knife out of his pocket and thrust it into Flippy's hands. Flippy stood there for a split second, then looked up at Splendid and laughed sharply.

"She's coming back!" he said before slicing a robot neatly in half. Its legs collapsed, while its top half landed on the ground, wires exposed. Flippy laughed again, throwing his head back, and Splendid batted away more robots with his fists.

"What do you mean, she's coming back?" he shouted over the racket. He and Flippy were now fighting back-to-back as robots swarmed on them like ants. Flippy lashed out furously with his knife, dispatching more robots before he answered.

"Eerie's gonna be back soon. She wouldn't have given you the knife if she wasn't going to return!"

"What about Gryffin?" Splendid punctuated each word with a blow to the surrounding droids, crushing at least three.

"What about her?" he asked without thinking; the little alien was no friend of his. He then cast a hasty sideways glance at Splendid and mentally hit himself for being so stupid as to have said something that calloused. Splendid looked like he might just kill the next thing that looked at him funny. "Eerie won't let anything happen to her, I promise."

"For her sake, I hope not," he answered, destroying even more robots, but he need not have bothered. A smooth, mechanic sound made itself heard over the shouting and clanking around them, and the robots around Splendid and Flippy parted as a giant machine pushed its way through and a red laser trained itself on the two Happy Tree Friends, who were frozen in shock.

Ivo Robotnik, in his Robot Walker, had joined the fight.

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Mime could feel his numb body slowly creeping back into consciousness; the sharp aches of the various injuries he had sustained, the way his skin burned with infection and parasites, the knowing hunger that attacked his insides. He kept his eyes shut, clenching his jaw and stifling a groan as nausea shot through his stomach and a wave of weakness washed over him.

Little by little, his senses awakened, and he realized he was laying on a firm surface...the floor of Chaos Zero's tower, perhaps? No, this was warmer, and it had an earthy smell to it. There was a warmth on his skin that he realized was sunlight, and though it was very mild, it made the parts of his legs where he had been burned throb with heat.

He could hear the murmur of hushed, slightly familiar voices, and a pair of gentle hands caressing his face before picking up one of his own hands and rubbing it to give it warmth. Someone was whispering to someone else, and a familiar scent, like silk and paper and soap, melted into his mind. Mime knew that scent, but he couldn't believe it; he had seen the same illusion only moments before he was killed.

With considerable effort, he shifted slightly and forced his eyes open. The pain forced a whimper to escape his lips, but he managed to focus blearily on a pale shadow that swam and wavered in his blurry vision...and then everything had clear edges and he found himself staring straight into Gryffin's eyes once again.

Relief and unspeakable happiness lit her face, and her eyes welled with tears that spilled over and ran down her cheeks.

"Welcome back, love," she whispered before wrapping her arms around him in a tender hug. He froze, his mind reeling; surely this was another illusion? But no, there was not only Gryffin, but Eerie too, and the familiar surroundings of his own planet, and the beautiful sense of knowing that comes with being fully awake...and the wonderful feeling of the little cat's warm embrace.

Gryffin pulled back and gently touched her hand to his cheek, and Mime realized that he was crying too. He stared up into her beautiful grey eyes, like a fairy-tale prince awakening to his princess...then the stress and nausea overtook him, and he turned to the side and vomited.

Eerie snorted with laughter while Gryffin pulled a wry, disgusted face.

"Way to be romantic, little mute," the demon quipped, her shoulders shaking and her eyes streaming with mirth. Mime spat, then wiped his mouth on the back of his arm and managed to grin, while Eerie glanced back over her shoulder and Gryffin anxiously peered into Mime's pale face.

"You okay?" she asked, and Mime managed to nod. Eerie's face (Mime noticed that her fur had turned blue) went white, and she clutched Gryffin's arm.

"We have to go. Now." Mime noticed the fright in Gryffin's eyes, and he put his arms around her neck and put his mouth very close to her ear.

"What's going on?" he whispered so softly that the demon didn't hear him.

"We're at war, love," Gryffin replied sadly, and he felt fear, cold and mechanic, shoot through his chest.

"Gryffin...we need to leave." Eerie's voice had become insistent, and Gryffin hugged Mime tighter.

"But what about him? He can't come with us, and I don't want to leave him here."

"Is your house nearby? He could stay there for a while." Gryffin brushed her hands against Mime's face, then softly kissed his cheek.

"Is that alright with you?" she asked, and he nodded. She slid her arms underneath his emaciated body, much in the same way that Splendid had picked up her starving form almost a year ago, and gently cradled him. He buried his face in her chest, and Gryffin wrapped her wings around him and began walking. Eerie stayed behind, not wanting to intrude on the two Happy Tree Friend's warm seclusion. It wouldn't hurt them to be alone for a few moments.

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They arrived at Gryffin's house, finding it the same as it had been before all the trouble began, only slightly dustier. She lay Mime down on the couch, then rummaged through her closet to find him something to wear; the fact that he was naked had begun to embarrass him slightly. She finally found an old white nightgown that didn't look quite as feminine as the rest of her clothing, and she helped him sit up and slip it over his head.

"Will you be fine here until I come back?" she asked softly, and he shivered.

"Please don't leave me," he whispered, and Gryffin felt pity well up in her chest. He looked so alone, huddled up with his knees drawn to his chest and his eyes wide with fear and pain, though some of his wounds had already begun to heal, helped simply by the fact that he was back on his own planet again.

"I have to go fight, Mime. The others need me."

"I need you, too." His words were so soft, so innocent, that she felt someone had taken a hold of her heart and was crushing it in their fist. Then Mime put his hand to his forehead as if he were dizzy, and almost fell over. Gryffin yelped and put her arm under his head, gently lowering him until he was resting on his back.

"I'll be back very soon, love. Just get some sleep." She kissed his forehead, then moved lower and kissed his lips. He stank from a year of disease and madness, but she didn't care. "I promise, nothing can hurt you now." Gryffin stood and covered him with a blanket, and Mime gazed up at her until the drowsiness took him and he closed his eyes, the ghost of a smile on his lips. She went to the door, then turned and glanced at him one more time before flying off to find her demon.

It's time to go to war.

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**I think an explenation is in order...**

**Splendid had donated his DNA to help create Gryffin, as you very well know, but here's what 'went down,' as they say. **

**Dr. Ivo took reproductive material from both Splendid and an unknown female donor, combined them, and placed the finished cell in an artificial womb, or creation chamber. The fluid in the creation chamber was a mixture of powdered Chaos Emerald and nutrients for proper development, although she aslo recieved nutrients through an umbilical cord, like a normal fetus.**

**Splendid had been told that, in exchange for helping Dr. Ivo create a living being, he would be allowed to keep his daughter, but instead, Ivo kept her and crafted her into an Ultimate Life-Form, following the guidelines that Dr. Gerald Robotnik used to create Shadow. However, he noticed that Shodow's main flaw was the emotional trauma that he gained after watching his friend, Maria, die. **

**Dr. Ivo wanted to aviod such flaws in Gryffin, so he commanded for her to be isolated. He went too far, though, in his eagerness to create the perfect war machine, and he ended up doing damage to her mind, as evidenced by her nightmares about being trapped in the lab.**

**Due to the fact that Dr. Ivo used Kryptonut, or Chaos Emeralds, in his expiriment, Splendid couldn't get close to the lab, and was forced to remain seperated from Gryffin.**

**....Whew. I hope this satisfied any loose ends that there were about her creation.**

**The next chapter's coming up soon! LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!**

**Cheers!**


	18. Chapter 18

**....Have you ever notice that it's difficult to just say the word 'Wii?' I can tell you, the temptation to yell it at the top of your lungs is very, very overwhelming....so a conversation would go like this.**

**"Hey, I just got the XBox 360 on sale!" Hmm, an XBox on sale. Yeah, as if. "What'd you get?"**

**"I got the WHEEEEEEE!" Of course, you'd have to throw your arms in the air and start running around in a crazed circle.**

***Maur laughs* That's what I sounded like last Christmas. Anyhoo, here's the next chapter!**

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There is no way to describe a battle, Gryffin discovered. The shouts of anger and groans of pain, the lamentations of the dying and the clangs of metal on metal, or the even more sickening sound of metal striking bare flesh; these were sounds she had never heard on such a great scale. The smells were even more frightening; gunpowder (Toothy had gotten some from the circus tent, and was firing a canon into the mass of robots), blood-soaked dirt, and ozone from all the electricity that came from the droids. She could hardly see around the clashing bodies, the dirt and sprays of blood that obscured her vision as she tried to find Splendid.

She battled one droid, then another and another, all the while trying to stop her legs folding up under her like a day-old foal's. She knew who was behind this; she had seen his ship and recognized it to be the Death Egg, but the fact that it was her he was after took all of her confidence away.

On she fought. It seemed there was a hundred robots to take the place of the ten she had destroyed, but there was no time to stop and think of a quicker way. She refused to let herself be captured; the robots knew her for what she was, and were under orders to bring her to Ivo if she could be taken safely.

In reality, the battle lasted only twenty-odd minutes, but it seemed to take forever to the weary Happy Tree Friends as they tried to push back the invaders, but suddenly the robots withdrew, and Gryffin felt her heart skip one beat, then another as the sounds faded away and the battlefield was left in silence.

Ivo Robotnik strode out in front of his robots like a war general, his Egg Walker completely undamaged, save for a few scratches on its sides. Indeed, both Flippy and Splendid's efforts to destroy the would-be dictator had failed, and Splendid's limp form hung from the front of the machine. Gryffin's eyes burned hot, but her new-found lasers wouldn't, or couldn't fire.

"Where is 666-B?" Ivo barked, his eyes shining behind his spectacles. "You all know her as Gryffin. If you surrender her to me, I will take my forces and leave, but if not..." His voice went low and dark. "...If not, you will all suffer, and your planet will be crushed with my Eclipse Cannon." The Happy Tree Friends around Gryffin (at least, the ones who's eyes hadn't been burned or gouged out), turned to stare blankly at her, and she took a deep breath, trying to stop her wing tips from trembling.

She didn't give herself time to think, but instead began to walk solemnly foreword, and her fellow happy Tree Friends parted around her, some of them glaring as if she had personally invited Ivo here, and she knew they blamed her. She stumbled more than once over bodies of Happy Tree Friends and robots alike, but no one offered a hand except for Disco Bear. He stepped out of the ranks and caught her before she fell, not heeding the angry mumblings of the others.

"Go get him, babe," he said, winking, and she smiled, relived that he still wanted to be her friend after all. It gave her a tiny bit of confidence to know someone out of the sea of angry faces didn't hate her, and she found that she was able to walk without tripping over anyone.

As she broke out of the crowd and in front of Ivo, he gave a soft chuckle.

"Well, if it isn't the little mishap. Life on the outside not quite what you expected, eh?"

"Ivo, put my father down." There was some collective gasps and muttering from the crowd, and Ivo's moustache quivered slightly as he grinned.

"Whom?" he asked in a mocking tone. "You were born from a test tube. You have no father." The Ring inside Gryffin burned, and her eyes began to glow as she grew angry.

"Put Splendid down!" She charged at the Egg Walker, but her vicious claws left no more than a dent. Ivo cursed (loudly) and a laser locked onto her. She could only see the green plasma homing missile coming straight at her before she ducked out of the way, and the missile burst harmlessly on the ground.

"Why don't you stand and fight, _Gryffin_?" Ivo asked angrily, firing a volley of lasers after her and missing each time. Panic beat in her chest, and the other Happy Tree Friends scattered, running to the forest or town for safety. Gryffin was left standing alone, her eyes sky-blue and her vision swimming with terrible images of what she had suffered at Ivo's hands; the Cage, the horrible crackle of captured electricity, the shattering pain of being electrocuted, the metal that fused to her skin and had to be pried off later...

And she exploded.

The Ring consumed her completely, and she screamed until there was no breath left in her lungs. Her clawed hands gouged at the sky, the sheer power lifting her off the ground as she lashed out with her wings. She looked like an angel of the Apocalypse, bathed in unearthly light and hovering almost twenty feet above the blood-soaked earth.

She screamed again, and the light grew brighter, and Ivo had to shield his spectacled eyes with his hand, suddenly panicked. This was not the power he had seen from her two years ago, while she was being tested! This was something much more raw, more wild, as if all of nature was channeling itself through this tiny animal.

The power spread to the robots, traveling from one to another through the ranks until they all shattered, leaving the ground scattered with metal scraps and Chaos Drives that floated just above the earth; red, yellow, green, and purple. Then the power converged around Ivo's Egg Walker, and he shouted as the metal body began to close in on itself, crumpling into a ball. Ivo himself only had time to vault over the side to avoid being crushed inside, and he could only watch in horror as his precious machine was destroyed completely.

The Ring's blinding light faded, and Gryffin slowly drifted back towards the ground, where she lay very, very still, with her eyes peacefully shut. Splendid, stirred, his eyes opening as he was revived by the power of the ring, and the first thing he spied was the little white form on the blood-soaked dirt.

His eyes grew wide with disbelief, and he staggered to his feet, skimming along the ground and coming to a halt at her side. He almost couldn't believe it. She had defeated Chaos Zero, she had defeated Ivo, and she had come back. He noticed that she was breathing, and he laughed, almost sobbing with relief. She was alive!

Splendid knelt down at her side, gently scooping her up and cradling her, unchecked tears flowing down his cheek and landing on her face; he wiped them away as she opened her eyes.

"Hello, Splendid..." she said softly. Then, wincing. "...Ouch." Splendid grinned through his tears and loosened his grip slightly.

"You came back." His voice cracked, but she smiled anyways.

"Of course I did, silly," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him fiercely. He grinned again and slowly set her down, and she managed to stand, although a little shakily. Ivo was staring at the little cat, his arms crossed and his eyebrows arched. Gryffin turned to face him, and felt Splendid's hand on her shoulder.

"I stand by what I said, Ivo," he said. "Gryffin stays here, with me." Ivo stared longer at her, thoughtfully rubbing his bald head with one hand.

"That display of power was truly incredible," he mumbled, as if bemused. "But...what caused that? Not the Chaos Emerald..."

"There is no Chaos Emerald anymore," Gryffin said, slowly walking towards him. Splendid stayed close behind her, his sky-blue eyes narrowed distrustfully at the scientist, but Gryffin was studying Ivo, her head tilted slightly to one side. She had never before seen her master up close, and she noticed that he looked defeated and tired, and his blue eyes weren't as cold as they had first looked. He avoided her gaze, looking down at his destroyed Egg Walker.

"No Emerald? But how-?"

"With the help of a friend." She glanced to the sky for an instant, the Ring-ridden part of her mind chasing Shadow as he Chaos warped his way through vast jungles...but no, that part of her had to remain asleep, if only to give her peace. Ivo looked from Gryffin to Splendid, then back again.

"Well, if the Chaos Emerald has rejected you, and you can't use its powers..." he began, his voice suddenly gruff and awkward. "...You're of no further use to me. This planet is doing me a favor by taking you off my hands, not to mention saving me no end of paperwork."

"You won't try to take me back?" she asked quietly, and he smoothed his moustache.

"I don't care of you stay here or not, but I won't let you be a burden to my research!" The doctor stiffened uncomfortably when Gryffin flung herself at him and hugged his rotund frame, while Splendid shook his head, an amused smile on his lips. Ivo stood stock-still for a moment, then awkwardly patted the little cat on the back, and she let go of him and grinned at Splendid.

"Well then," he said, looking up at the Death Egg. "You might want to get out of here before she decides she likes you and insists on tagging along." Ivo nodded, then turned and walked back to his ship without a backwards glance at either of the two animals. They watched as the Death Egg took off, on its way back to Mobius, and then Gryffin turned to Splendid and put her hands on her hips.

"So..." she said conversationally. "...What else did I miss?"

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Eerie wandered aimlessly on the battlefield in a slight daze, doing her best with demon's magic to heal those she could help, but slitting the throats of those that were in too much pain to deal with. Some of the dead were already stirring, and some dragged to bodies of their dead companions to somewhere peaceful to wake up.

As the sun glared down on the empty field, she did her best to ignore the throbbing pain on her shoulder blades, where her wings had once been. She chided herself for being so clumsy and allowing that laser to hit her, but she had to admit she felt lighter without her wings, and thought that perhaps she just wouldn't grow them back when all this was said and done. It couldn't hurt to look like a normal cat for a while.

She finally found Flippy, curled up on the ground next to a few charred skeletons whose skin and fur was slowly coming back. He was shivering uncontrollably, half of his body burnt and the other half covered in various cuts and bruises. Eerie walked up to him and put her hands on her hips.

"You know, if you hadn't tried to save them, you wouldn't be in such pain," she said softly, and he opened his remaining eye and looked up.

"Oh, just s-shut up and help me." She reached down and pulled him to his feet, but he grunted in pain and stood wobbly on one leg. The other was twisted at an unnatural angle, with bits of bone poking through his skin. Eerie winced.

"I'm sorry I didn't get back until it was almost too late," she said. "Wow...was the battle really that rough?"

"You kidding?" he asked, his eye turning green and his voice becoming low and rough as a wicked grin lit his face. "This was more fun then I've had in _years_." He grimaced suddenly and had to put his hand on her shoulder to steady himself, and his eye turned black again. "So, where've you been, anyways? I was starting to think you'd left me for some other possessed fool."

"The kid was having some trouble, and I had to take that little demon back to Hell for a while." She thought for a moment. "I told the other demons to send him back when we got here...he should be at her house by now."

"Whatever...it's just good to have you back," he said, wrapping one of his arms around her waist as best he could. "So...how exactly was Gryffin in trouble?" Eerie shook her head.

"I'd rather not talk about it right now. Can we just go back to your house?" Flippy sighed happily.

"I thought you'd never ask." The two set off at a very, very slow walk, leaving the shadow of the battle behind.

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Splendid and Gryffin talked for a while, and she told him how Chaos Zero had admitted that Splendid was her father, deciding not to mention how Chaos had almost killed her, but couldn't resist taunting her with the knowledge of the parent she never had. Instead, she made it sound like he let it slip, and after she told him, there was much crying and hugging and promises to visit each other and things of that nature. Splendid told Gryffin that he had known from the beginning, but was waiting for the right time to tell her, and Gryffin thought back on her first few days on the planet and agreed that if she had been told then, she wouldn't have believed it.

All in all, it was a little past sundown when she managed to get home, anxious to check on Mime. To her surprise, she found her little deer to have bathed, dressed, and fed himself, and was now playing quietly with a slime-and-blood-covered Pazuzu. They both looked up, delighted, when she walked in, and Mime scrambled to his feet and tackled her with a hug, practically lifting her off the ground.

He shivered with delight at being able to simply hold her and not have to let go, and he felt so ecstatic just to be home, with Gryffin's arms around him and Pazuzu crawling all over their feet, just like old times. Gryffin slowly, and very gently, pressed her lips to his, and he found himself responding very tentatively, as if wanting to make sure everything was okay. Pazuzu stared up at them, then poked one tentacle at his open beak and made a gagging, gurgling sound before turning to leave the room, just to get away from all the 'mushy stuff.'

Gryffin didn't stop kissing him, even when her demon left the room, but it wasn't just one little kiss now. It was a sting of kisses that she nibbled onto his lips, his jawbone, and his neck. Mime began to shiver, tears welling in his eyes; he had thought many times that he would never so much as see her again, let alone kiss her or hold her in his arms.

Something wet landed on the hand that Mime had cupped under Gryffin's chin; she was crying too, but there was a gentle smile on her face.

"Come on," she said softly. "It's getting late." She slipped her hand into his and led him down the hall, to her bedroom. For a moment, it seemed as if she was going to simply tuck him in and go sleep on the couch, but after a moment of thought, she got under the covers with him, and he instinctively cuddled up close. They spent most of that night getting reacquainted with each other's bodies, gently running their fingertips across lips, touching each other's faces as if to reassure themselves that they were still there.

Soon Mime, then Gryffin, fell into fitful sleep, arms hugged tight around each other as the gentle darkness took them, soothing their minds from the Hell they had suffered, both alone and at the other's hands. It didn't matter that the little deer's mind was permanently twisted, his every thought now tinted with a trace of madness, or that Gryffin's powers had completely faded from the Happy Tree Friend side of her soul.

They were content to sleep, knowing that now, they wouldn't spend another night alone.

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**The End. Kinda. I will be coming out with one last chapter, but it'll just be a sort of tying-of-the-loose-ends thing.**

**Well, what did you think? Love it, hate it...you tell me! **

**Oh, and I have one thing to admit. Despite him being an antagonist in this story, I am...a Robotnik fan! *collective gasps from all who read* *Maur shrugs hopelessly* What can I say? He's a mad scientist, for GLADoS' sake! How am I supposed to hate a mad scientist?!**

**You know, I wish I had something witty and sharp to say to end this puppy, but I don't. I can only thank you from the bottom of my hard drive for reading, and do my best to Email you a cake or something. C'mon, it's got chocolate frosting and strawberry goo on the inside!**

**Wow, I should probably just end it before I start getting weepy-eyed. I hope you enjoyed reading this, and perhaps you'll see me again sometime. I'm working on something now, but it could take a while. If there's anything you'd like me to work on, send me ideas! Go ahead, don't be shy...**

**I'm thankful to be,**

**Sincerely yours,**

**Maur the Grey.**

**Cheers!**


	19. The End

**Welcome, one and all! You may have read about some things in my story that confused you, so I'm here to set things right again with a little time, a keyboard, and a whole lot of extrememly geeky knowledge and big words.**

**Let's get cracking, shall we?**

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**You may remember, in the first chapter, that instead of having Knuckles the Echidna with Sonic and Tails at the lab, I had Rotor the Walrus instead. That is because, in the comic series 'Sonic the Hedgehog,' Knuckles very rarely leaves Angel Island, so he wouldn't have been anywhere near the plains of Mobius when the attack happened. Rotor is a character original to the comic series, so you won't be seeing him in any of the video games, unfortunatly.**

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**Eerie is a complete oddity by herself, sometimes making herself visible to other people, sometimes only showing herself through, or to, Gryffin. She is like a cat in the prospect that she will not do what you ask her to, but will act completely of her own accord, such as taking over Gryffin's mind at inoppertune times and making very rude threats over the phone. (O.o)**

**She didn't have a body of her own until after Chaos Zero's defeat, but she was able to restrain Evil Flippy from harming Flippy in chapter ten. That is because Evil Flippy and Eerie's 'bodies' were hallucinations of their respective hosts, and it is said that only people that are truly insane can see other's hallucinations. Well, Flippy is pretty far gone, and Gryffin could possibly be doubly so, so it only makes sense that they could each see the other's demon.**

**Eerie also has a completely different appearence than Gryffin. Where Gryffin is short and plump, with white fur and light grey eyes, Eerie is tall and somewhat thinner with light blue fur, and her eyes are a deep cobalt. As far as personality goes, however, they are very closely matched, both with short tempers and a liking for getting their way.**

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**On Chaos Power.**

**If you remember, in chapter ten, Gryffin could feel the Chaos Power radiating from Mime, and she thought that it was that which was giving her a headache. In truth, she was feeling her own Chaos Emerald trying to alert her that Chaos Zero was stirring, although she didn't know enough about the god of Chaos to come to that conclusion herself.**

**Splendid, of course, has a natural weakness to Chaos Power. This is because Chaos Emeralds have the same elemental composition as Kryptonut. Gryffin didn't inherit this trait, obviously, although it would be fun to watch her have an alergic reaction to herself.**

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**In chapter eleven, Gryffin used Chaos Control to escape from a locked tank of water. This skill is nothing more than using the Chaos Emerald's power to stop time, and transporting oneself to a different location. She used Chaos Control again to put Shifty inside the tank, although using Chaos Control too may times can cause one's molecules to burst into flames.**

**That's how fast you move when it happens. Seriously.**

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**Ah, Lumpy's ducks. How can I forget the ducks? **

**The ducks are from the episode 'Mime to Five.' Mime finds a job cleaning elephant pens in Lumpy's circus, and one of the acts in the circus is an act with trained ducks. It is revealed near the end that the ducks are carnivorous, and more bloodthirsty than the Lachrymose Leeches from 'A Series of Unfortunate Events.'**

**The one sceen I remember best is when the ducks are attacking the crowd. Giggles is screaming bloody murder, and Mole is clapping appreciatively. Bwahaha!**

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**Chaos Zero was an antagonist in this story, but in reality, he is the Great Chao (pronounced 'chow'). He was introduced in Sonic Adventure for the Sega GameCube and Dreamcast. Seriously, he's not a bad guy. Even the Great Chao can have a really shitty millenium and just want to destroy a few mortals.**

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**Pazuzu is based loosely on the demon from 'Read 'Em and Weep.' He is about knee-height, with beady white eyes and two antenne that lay almost flat against his head. He has four tentacles, and speaks almost like any other four year old would, although he is a little over two hundred years old.**

**I guess demons age slowly in Happy Tree.**

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**Remember in chapter fourteen, when Shadow gave Gryffin a fruit that was 'bigger than an orange, but with the same color and texture of a strawberry?' **

**That was none other than a peice of Dark Fruit, from Sonic Adventure 2 Battle. Dark Fruit is found in the Dark Garden, as a food for the Chao you keep there. **

**Nothing heals like the fruit of the Underword, eh? (^_^)**

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**On the Rings.**

**The Rings, according the the third issue of 'Sonic the Hedgehog,' (which I actually have! Squeee!) were forged by Sonic's uncle, Chuck. He created them so Sonic could use thier magic to become the fastest thing on Mobius.**

**The Rings are supposedly made from 'all that is pure and natural,' which played off of the enviromental issues that were forming in 1993, when Sonic was made into a comic book.**

**Gryffin was able to hold onto the Ring's power long enough to defeat Chaos Zero and Ivo, but she isn't strong enough to use it for everyday things, like she could with the Chaos Emerald. That means no more easy demon-slime cleanup, unfortunatly.**

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**In the last chapter, Gryffin was having flashbacks about her days in the laboratory before the anger and fear forced the Ring's magic to overcome her. **

**The images she saw were of a device called a Cage, which is a holding chamber that has electricity running across the roof, floor, and walls. It is long enough for someone to lay in, but too small to stand in, so Gryffin would often be forced to remain on her hands and knees while inside it. **

**It was used to test her weakness to EMP (electro-magnetic pulse). Being an Ultimate Life-Form, she didn't succumb to the shock like a normal person would, but it still was incredibly painful. On some occasions, the metal of the bars of the cage would fuse to Gryffin's skin after more than twenty minutes of electrocution, and the metal would have to be pried off later.**

**This also explains why she grew frightened after leaving the house without Splendid's permission.**

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**You may think, after everything that's happened, Gryffin will be blessed with a little freak of nature of her own. Unfortunatly, she is completely sterile, which means the only child she will look foreword to bouncing on her knee is Pazuzu. Besides, they're only kids, underneith it all. I hope you aren't too dissapointed.**

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**There is a passage in the last chapter that says '...Leaving the ground scattered with scraps of metal and Chaos Drives that floated just above the earth; red, yellow, green, and purple.'**

**Chaos Drives are crystals that can be found in Sonic Adventure 2 Battle when you destroy a robot. When you give them to a Chao (chow), the Chao's stats will go up; yellow is for swim, red is for power, purple is for flying, and green is for speed. **

**Sniffles discovered the different properties a few days after the battle, by giving the Drives to laboratory mice. It isn't coincidence that the mice began to lay eggs, and learned to walk on two feet. They also grew rounder in shape, with tear-drop shaped heads and little emote balls that floated just above their heads and conveyed emotions, until the mice looked nothing like mice at all.**

**In fact, the mice had become Chao. **

**All of Happy Tree was delighted with this new breed of pet, that acted child-like and sweet but could still be very mischevious...but that's a diferent story.**

**On my Wii, I have a few Chao of my own, including an adorable Dark Chao I named Cthulhu. He looks like Shadow, with green highlights on his spines instead of red. (^_^) He's just the cutest little thing!**

**Speaking of which, I need to go and train him for his race. It's finaly time for me to say good-bye.**

**I miss you already,**

**Maur the Grey.**

**Cheers!**


End file.
